Peculiar Details Research Articles

An exceptionally well-preserved Jurassic plateau-top to marginal escarpment in the Northern Apennines (Central Italy): sedimentological, palaeontological and palaeostructural features

Submarine palaeo-escarpment tracts at the basin margins commonly border isolated drowned carbonate platforms in the Jurassic rifted margins of the Western Tethys and bear fundamental structural and palaeogeographic significance. These tectonically generated escarpments, rooted in late Hettangian-early Sinemurian master faults, provide key information on the regional architecture of the rift, and on the nature and timespan of activity of the faults which define them. An isolated drowned carbonate platform (the Sabina Plateau) in the Northern Apennines of Central Italy exhibits a wealth of peculiar details on the Jurassic submarine topography. The deposits covering this escarpment host multiple unconformities related to a margin-failure episode, documented by breccias resting on a submarine-scar surface, perched with respect to the basin bottom and draped discontinuously by condensed ammonite-rich pelagites. Thin lenses of graded and laminated oolitic limestones in the condensed pelagic succession of the Sabina Plateau are interpreted as likely produced by the overbanking of turbidity currents, which were shed into the basin by a neighbouring productive carbonate platform. The final leveling of the submarine rift bathymetry occurred in the earliest Cretaceous, as documented by the onlap of the aggrading basinal succession against the palaeo-escarpment, and the burial of the plateau-top condensed succession. This complex onlap surface exhibits a distinctive overprint, such as diffuse silicification driven by the transit of silica-rich diagenetic fluids sourced by the radiolarian-rich basinal units.

Alexandre Kostov, ed. Contemporary Balkans. The Challenges of the 21st Century

Alexandre Kostov, ed. <i>Contemporary Balkans. The Challenges of the 21st Century</i>

“Español Moderno” for Chinese: The Influence of Colonial Thought on Spanish-American Cultural Discourse

During two years of analysis of thesis projects for the graduation of bachelor’s degree in spanish language, deficiencies have been found in the students of the Spanish faculty of Hebei International Studies University, China, to assume and reproduce the idea of Spanish America as a heterogeneous conglomerate, therefore it was determined to study the idea of cultural diversity disseminated by the books for the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language in China. In this case, the Español Moderno 1 Student's Book and the Español Moderno 1 Reading Books were selected because they are the most widely used in universities and constitute the first learning section. Software-assisted qualitative analysis was used, establishing a coding system for the cultural information that made it possible to identify the cultural information with which the idea of the Hispanic American subject and society is constructed. Together with the ethnographic work with the students, it was concluded that the cultural information is dispersed, incoherent and superficial. It offers a vision of Hispanic America equated to Spain, understanding this as a region of Christian society, Spanish-speaking population and Latin culture with peculiar details and touristic landscapes. The book offers an inconsistent cultural education environment, which puts students at risk of making cultural mistakes during immersion in any Spanish-speaking cultural context. The Hispanic American cultural reality needs to be presented in a respectful and accurate manner. This implies decolonizing the perception and understanding Hispanic America from Hispanic America and not through colonial filters that seek to perpetuate a constricted vision, fertilized by ethnocentric analysis and denial of reality.

About One Detail of the Funeral Rite of Ancient Qabala

This article is devoted to the consideration and interpretation of a peculiar detail of the funeral rite observed at the cemeteries of ancient period in the historical region of Qabala - the capital of Caucasian Albania. Attention is focused on ceramic vessels with intentionally made holes, which were revealed in the burials among the grave goods. The vessels with holes were found in the ground burials of Uzuntala and Gushlar cemeteries of the 1st century BCE – 1st century CE, along with skeletons in a contracted position on their sides; as well as in the catacomb burial of Salbir, dating to the I-III centuries CE. In burials nos. 3–7 of Uzuntala, vessels of this type had holes in the center of their bases, and were placed upside down in the grave. In the catacomb burial of Salbir, 1st – 3rd centuries CE, two vases of the same type had large holes on the side of the body. The specific detail of the funeral rite, which is of a particular nature, has been episodically traced in the territory of Azerbaijan since the Bronze Age and continued to exist until the Late Antique period. It allows us to talk of the existence of a ritual that was carried out during the funeral ceremony and reflected some religious ideas associated with the funeral ideology. The authors of the paper suppose that these vessels should, according to prevailing beliefs, symbolize the “exodus of the soul” of the deceased and have no connection with the custom of damage to the inventory.

The Death of Achilles in the Iliad

Abstract Based on an approach derived from neoanalysis, oral poetry theory, and intertextuality, this paper argues that the death of Achilles is of particular importance for the Iliad. Numerous structural and thematic similarities reflect and foreshadow elements of the traditional story of the death of Achilles which is thereby incorporated into the Iliad symbolically through two intertwined sets of correspondences. These motif transferences and symbolic correspondences serve to explain several peculiar details of the Homeric narrative and contribute to our interpretation of the poem in the context of the Homeric concept of heroism and to our appreciation of the Iliad’s poetic technique. Through the constant foreshadowing of his death, Achilles achieves the highest glory a Homeric warrior can hope for, dying in battle and earning immortal fame without actually dying, but vanquishing all his enemies. This is part of the Iliad’s strategy to encompass the whole of the Trojan War through analepses as well as prolepses and by making Achilles’ triumph over Hector prefigure the fall of Troy.

An Efficient R-Peak Detection Using Riesz Fractional-Order Digital Differentiator

Clinically, electrocardiogram (ECG) is a powerful tool for determining the health and functioning of the human heart. Faster detection and diagnosis of heart functioning would aid cardiologists to provide appropriate treatment to the patients (subjects). In this paper, the concept of fractional-order calculus is employed for noise cancellation and artifacts removal in ECG signal as fractional-order differentiator proved to provide more peculiar details about signals than an integer-order differentiator. In the proposed method, R-peaks are detected using Riesz fractional-order digital differentiator (RFODD) based on the differencing method. The differentiation operation enhances the high-frequency components of the signal. So, QRS complex which is a high-frequency component in ECG is accentuated and the R-peaks are detected using appropriate threshold technique. The proposed method is tested on Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Beth Israel Hospital (MIT-BIH) arrhythmia database, and the experimental results of the proposed method have achieved a sensitivity of 99.95%, positive predictivity of 99.949% and an error rate of 0.095%. ECG waveforms are analyzed on various fractional orders of RFODD, and their performance parameters, i.e., sensitivity, positive predictivity and error rate, are also calculated.

Phenomenon of Popularity of the Lithuanian Folktale “The Sister as Duck”

The Lithuanian folktale “The Sister as Duck” (AT 452C*), most commonly known under the name of “Sigutė”, is generally regarded as a popular narrative. It is appreciated for the rich mythical imagery: after the female protagonist is burned and the cow licks the ashes, the duck appears; the snow is allegedly sparkling because of the witch’s brains (bones) scattered there, etc. Moreover, the tale abounds in expressive song insertions.This tale has been published both in academic and popular editions. Its images are widespread in popular culture, even becoming stereotypical. However, in the card file catalogue of the Lithuanian folk narratives, only 17 variants of this tale and 5 fragments recorded from oral tradition can be found.By using contextual analysis, the author of the article attempts establishing when, how, and due to what circumstances this tale has turned into a phenomenon of popular culture.Its first recording from oral tradition in the 19th century purported to serve as illustration of the peculiarities of a particular Lithuanian dialect. After the ban of the Lithuanian press in Latin alphabet was lifted in the beginning of the 20th century, this variant of the tale was included into a published collection of folktales for children, subsequently spreading to various schoolbooks, which commonly used it for didactic purposes, such as educating empathy in children.During Soviet times, the tale found its way into several academic editions, afterwards crossing into popular folktales’ collections for children published in thousands of copies. The tale also became popular in audial shape: its sound recordings were published both in Lithuania and abroad.The analysis of the tale’s variants recorded from the oral tradition highlighted certain characteristics indicating that its popularity must have depended on the written culture. In the five variants of the tale recorded in 1936–1959, the female protagonist is not once called Sigutė or turns into the duck. However, the eleven variants recorded in 1962–1980 include most of the structural components or certain peculiar details from the first published variant of the tale, e.g. the song insertions, the girl’s name, the duck motive. In most cases, the girl turns into duck here, and only once into a cuckoo. This testifies to the obvious influence of the published variant.The folktale “Sigutė” earned phenomenal popularity also due to its artistic interpretations. In the beginning of the 20th century, it inspired works by such Lithuanian neo-romanticists as Vydūnas, Salomėja Nėris and others. During Soviet times, this story served as basis for plays and theater performances for children, thus further paving its way into popular culture.The fate of the folktale “Sigutė” may be regarded as a certain case of folktale canon formation: the folk text originating in oral tradition is affected by instruments of the written culture, turning into a narrative of national renown and importance. Possibly such cannon formation was also determined by the decline of the traditional folk culture, as result of which the educated people selecting the folk texts to inspire their creativity particularly favored the ones characterized by a dramatic story line and impressive tragic developments, which therefore could be easily adapted into individual literary compositions.Thus, the literary and musical interpretations of the folktale “Sigutė” have significantly added to its popularity, turning it into a canonic childhood text. Lacking popularity in the oral tradition and recorded as just a few fragmented variants, most likely retold from the published folktale collections, the folktale “Sigutė” became a special phenomenon of the written Lithuanian culture.

On the performance of an ENZ-based sensor using transmission line theory and effective medium approach

In this paper we perform an in-depth theoretical study of a sensing platform based on epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) metamaterials. The structure proposed for sensing is a narrow metallic waveguide channel. An equivalent circuit model is rigorously deduced using transmission line theory, considering several configurations for a dielectric body (analyte sample) inserted within the narrow channel, showing good agreement with results obtained from numerical simulations. The transmission line model is able to reproduce even the most peculiar details of the sensing platform response. Its performance is then evaluated by varying systematically the size, position and permittivity of the analyte, and height of the ENZ channel. It is shown that the sensor is capable of detecting changes in the permittivity/refractive index or position even with deeply subwavelength analyte sizes (∼0.05λ0), giving a sensitivity up to 0.03 m/RIU and a figure of Merit ∼25. The effective medium approach is evaluated by treating the inhomogeneous cross-section of the analyte as a transmission line filled with a homogeneous material.

Галицкие керамические плитки: проблема поиска образцов

The aim of this report is to analyze the relief tiles from Halich in the wide context of applied art and architecture decor, to find the possible provenance of the craftsmen who produced them. All the relief tiles can be divided into two types, which differ in morphology (dimensions, peculiaritiesof clay mass) and style of images. Tiles of the first type are smaller, the draft is schematic, consists of outercounter line and a few inner lines. They were typical of Old Rus’ architecture by their size and shape, were produced by local craftsmen, who worked according to the local art tradition and used the motifs which they could see on the kolts. Tiles of the second type were bigger, they had not a counter but a real relief image on them, so that the picture distinctly stands out from the tile. The drawing was made carefully, with many peculiar details. Generally, the motives represented on these tiles are definitely connected with the Romanesque architectural reliefs.Tiles of the second type are a part of the European art tradition, especially their morphology is typical of European building ceramic. They were made by the foreign craftsmen, but in this case they were made in a special manner, which isn’t the same as the west analogues. The peculiarities of images of the Halich tiles confirm the conclusions drawn from the analysis of morphology.The tiles of the first type are related to the local tradition of Old Rus, the tiles of the second type belong to the imported, West European, Romanesque tradition.

High resolution X-ray microtomography for the characterization of pore structure and effective thermal conductivity of iron ore sinter

Thoroughly understanding of the thermophysical properties of porous sinter is especially important for operation optimization and energy saving in integrated steel mills. Under this prospect, nondestructive X-ray microtomography was applied to characterize the pore structure and following simulations for estimating the sinter effective thermal conductivity were performed. Three sinter cakes produced from pilot-scale sinter pot tests under three granulation moisture levels were scanned with resolution ratio of 42µm. The reconstructed sinter cakes have various complex pore distributions, leading to remarkable anisotropic thermal conductivities and complicated temperature field. The pores smaller than 300µm dominate the number frequency in sinter cake, while a small amount of pores larger than 1mm account for ∼94% of the total pore volume, which determine the thermal behavior greatly. The estimated effective thermal conductivities of three samples are 0.847, 0.865, 0.558W/mK, corresponding to the porosity of 48.1%, 49.1% and 59.4% respectively. Comparing these values with values of similar iron agglomerates in the literature, some empirical correlations and analytical models, the results proved that CT-simulation is a valid approach for capturing the peculiar details of the real sinter porous structure, thus to predict thermal behavior with higher accuracy than the simplified geometric models.

Незамеченное свидетельство о трагедии Софокла «Федра»

In the E. D. Trendall & T. B. L. Webster’s collection of illustrations to Greek drama an image on the lid of a red-figured Apulian pyxis (4th century BC) presents a human figure, dressed as a woman, leaning overa sword stuck in the ground, her face full of sorrow. Another figure — a bearded man by her side — also holds a sheathed sword and applies to the woman with a gesture of admonition. These two were identified by Websteras Phaedra and Theseus respectively; he also supposed the whole scene to be an illustration to an episode from Seneca’s Phaedra (vv. 704–897). According to Webster, a common source could explain this similarity. As such asource he chooses Euripides’ tragedy Hippolytos Calyptomenos that has not survived to the present day. During centuries the only assistance in reconstruction of the plays based on the myth about Hippolytus and Phaedra (i.e. Sophocles’ Phaedra and Hippolytos Calyptomenos) were few mythographers’ testimonies and several surviving fragments of the plays themselves (frr. 677–693 Radt and frr. 428–447 Kannicht resp.). Still, in view of newly discovered and published papyri all the previous reconstructions appeared to be inappropriate. In the first Euripides’ Hippolytos there must have been an episode when Phaedra after being rejected sends a slandering letter to Theseus. This peculiar detail in the first version of Hippolytos is proved by the papyrus fragments.Therefore the Hippolytos Calyptomenos contained no episode of oral slandering. However the vase-painter of the 4th century BC and Seneca in the 1st century AD should have had common source for their works, and it seems likely that Sophocles’ Phaedra should be recognized as the only candidate for this role.

The gain in Thick GEM multipliers and its time-evolution

In the context of a project to upgrade the gas photon detectors of COMPASS RICH-1, we have performed an R&D programme aimed to develop photon detectors based on multi-layer arrangements of thick GEM electron multipliers coupled to a CsI photoconverter. For this purpose, thick GEMs have been characterised in detail including the gain performance, its dependance on the geometrical parameters and its time-evolution, a feature exhibited by the gas detectors with open insulator surfaces. The variation due to this evolution drammatically depends on the parameters themselves.In the present article we summarise the outcomes of the studies dedicated to the thick GEM gain and its evolution versus time. We also include a qualitative model which accounts for the peculiar details of the observed thick GEM gain time-evolution.

Unsteady translation and repetitive jetting of acoustic cavitation bubbles.

High-speed recordings reveal peculiar details of the oscillation and translation behavior of cavitation bubbles in the vicinity of an ultrasonic horn tip driven at 20 kHz. In particular, a forward jump during collapse that is due to the rapid reduction of virtual mass is observed. Furthermore, frequently a jetting in the translation direction during the collapse phase is resolved. In spite of strong aspherical deformations and frequent splitting, these bubbles survive the jetting collapse, and they rebound recollecting fragments. Because of incomplete restoration of the spherical shape within the following driving period, higher periodic volume oscillations can occur. This is recognized as a yet unknown source of subharmonic acoustic emission by cavitation bubbles. Numerical modeling can capture the essentials of the unsteady translation.

Re-reading Grendel’s Mother: Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Metrical Charms

Traditionally, critical assessments of Grendel’s mother tend to be overly reductive, focusing primarily, if not exclusively, on her gender and her relationship with her son—when she is even considered independently at all. This essay suggests that a more nuanced understanding of her significance in the poem, especially as it could have registered with contemporary audiences, might come from recognition of the parallels between Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon metrical charm tradition. Specifically, reading Grendel’s mother in terms of such parallels provides a contemporary interpretive paradigm that not only incorporates the facts of her gender and maternity while avoiding common lexical and critical concepts of anti-type or assumptions of monstrosity, but also gives insights into the ways that original audiences might have processed the more peculiar textual details associated with her into a cohesive whole, with her as an irreducibly complex figure at its center.

High resolution microtomography-based CFD simulation of flow and heat transfer in aluminum metal foams

The necessity for devising more effective heat transfer technologies and innovative materials, capable of increasing performances while keeping power consumption, size and cost at reasonable levels, is well recognized. Under this prospect, metal foams are good candidates for improving the thermal efficiency of heat transfer devices and allowing, at the same time, the use of smaller and lighter equipments. For design purposes, the proper characterization and quantification of transport and thermal properties of metal foams is fundamental but far from simple. This lack of information constitutes a fundamental limit in the employment of metal foams in practical and industrial applications. Nowadays, besides classical transport models and correlations, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) at the pore scale, although challenging, are becoming a promising approach for recovering the transport properties of the medium, especially if coupled with a realistic description of the foam structure. In order to precisely describe the microstructure of the foams, a 3D approach based on the X-ray computed microtomography (μ-CT) technique can be adopted. In this work, the results of high resolution μ-CT-based CFD simulations, performed on three different open-cell aluminum foams samples, will be illustrated. The results demonstrate that open-cell aluminum foams are effective means for enhancing heat transfer. Moreover, the procedure proved that μ-CT is a valid tool for capturing the peculiar details of the foam structure, thus to overcome the limits associated to the use of economical, but simplified, geometric models.

On Pasolini’s Edipo Re: an overview with a focus on two neglected details. Unconscious, will, chance and destiny

The present study aims at re-analyzing two specific aspects of Pasolini’s cinematic staging of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex that seem to have received little attention. The first aspect concerns the subtle usage of body language, such as “covering the eyes, crying, gaze-interactions, starring someone or something in silence”. They are peculiar details that betray, so to speak, the presence both of typically Freudian concepts (such as, “the removing of disturbing truth to the unconscious, and the unconscious awareness of the truth”), and some typically Sophoclean ideas (such as, “resignation” to what is inescapable and acceptance of it). This analysis is thus conducted within the perspective of the complex interrelation between Sophocles’ text and the Freudian interpretation that Pasolini has applied to it. The second aspect, while analyzing Pasolini’s self-commentary on some portions of the film, pertains to an enigmatic statement of Pasolini himself which seems to have been mostly dismissed. Pasolini’s enigmatic statement touches on issues essential both to Sophocles’ tragedy and its modern reception; it indeed involves the everlasting discussion on the play about the dialectical tension among “will”, “chance” and “destiny” in Oedipus’ story and in human condition, as exemplified by the individual case of Pasolini.

An ab initio study on the ground and low-lying doublet electronic states of linear C 2As

The present study is closely related to a recently published paper on the X ∼ 2 Π −1 2Δ spectral system of C 2As [S. Jerosimić, Lj. Stojanović, M. Perić, J. Chem. Phys. 133 (2010) 024307]. Here we report the results of ab initio calculations of the geometry, adiabatic excitation energies and electric dipole moments of the low-lying doublet electronic states of linear C 2As. We also discuss some peculiar details of the vibronic and spin–orbit structure in the X ∼ 2 Π and 1 2Δ states, being the subject of our previous paper. The results for transition moments between the vibronic energy levels within the ground electronic state are presented. The aim of the present study is to motivate new experimental studies on the title molecule and to facilitate the interpretation of the results of these investigations.

A unique 10th century AD gold-plated brooch from south-east Russia: technical and stylistic authentication

The gold-plated brooch with filigree and granulation was recovered by hobby metal-detecting in the vicinity of the city of Bryansk. The aim of this paper is to present some initial results representing the outcome of the archaeological and technological examination of this unique piece of jewellery. The composition of the metal and the method of fabrication were investigated using ED-XRF and microscopic analyses. The technical examination revealed that the brooch belongs to the Scandinavian stylistic and technological circle. However, technically it differs in three significant details from the Northern art tradition of filigree and granulation. First, the upper embossed panel, made of high purity gold, is placed on a solid silver base and fixed with six gold rivets. Usually, it was constructed of a flat based plate and a domed relief upper plate made of the same metal. The second unusual technique whose application was identified on this brooch is the use of a mercury amalgam solder for joining the filigree and granulation to the substrate. The last peculiar detail is the use of geometrical granulation associated with Slavic art. Such elements appear on a number of Gotlandic ornaments from the late Viking Age. The gold brooch was possibly produced in Gotland based on the Scandinavian tradition, but also displays features of Slavic influence in its design.

Two small orientalising spirals (Rome, 10th-9th century BC) common objects – precious jewels

The finding of hair decorations is not rare in archaeological excavations. It is well known that pins, gold nets, gold wires and threads embellished noble ladies’ heads, but it is less common to find small accessories meant to bind braids created as small jewels, such as the 7th century BC spirals found in Lazio. Two hair coils of great refinement, probably used as ‘braid binders’, with terminals decorated by filigree have been found in two funeral sets from two princely tombs of the Laurentina Acqua Acetosa Necropolis (n. 74 and n. 133). The objects present similarities with other items of the same typology from Amendolara (CS), Narce, Marsiliana and Vetulonia. The item from tomb 133 is made of silver covered by electrum, while the second one, from tomb 74, was made entirely in gold. Their analytical study allowed the determination of peculiar details concerning their fabrication, from the composition of the constituent materials to the technological solutions used for their production. The scientific observations, carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS), furnished important data for the characterization of the single object, to be used also as a base for comparison with the few homologous jewels known to date.

Some density properties of the closed unit ball of [formula omitted

In this paper we present some properties on the densifiability of certain subsets of L 1 . In particular, we prove that the closed unit ball B 1 in L 1 can be filled by weak curves with arbitrarily small density in the same way as it is done in the unit ball of a finite-dimensional space, but a very peculiar detail. Some weak density properties of the set D , of all probability functions of L 1 , are used to approach a solution of an infinite-dimensional global optimization problem, posed on D , by means of solutions of one-dimensional global optimization problems posed on each curve that densifies D .