State Regime Research Articles

An investigation into the softening behavior of cast A356 alloy in the solid and semisolid deformation regimes

The current work deals with the hot deformation behavior of A356 aluminum alloy starting with the cast structure and an emphasize on the capability of flow softening. Toward this end, the hot compression tests were performed at temperatures of 150, 250, 350, 450, 500 and 550 °C in the solid range and 580 °C in the semisolid range under the typical strain rate of 0.01s−1. The materials represent high protentional for the occurrence of softening mechanism in solid state regime. During thermomechanical processing (above 250 °C), after reaching the peak stress, the dynamic recrystallization prevails over the deformation behavior and the stress level reaches a steady state regime. The α-dendritic arms are crushed and refined, and the silicon blades are mechanically fragmented and spread irregularly through the microstructure. Being in the semi-solid temperature range, the eutectic silicon phase is melted and causes a sharp decrease in the resistance against deformation. The penetration of the liquid phase along the developed sub-boundaries give rise to grain partitioning and resembles the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization. The presence of the liquid phase during semisolid forming, in addition to the lubricated flow mechanism, facilitates the deformation by providing proper condition for the occurrence of recrystallization. In the present case, a stable stress level as below as 1 MPa was recorded for the experiment cast structure.

Of Rulers, Relatives, and Businesspersons: The Imposition of Sanctions on Family Members

EU restrictive measures (sanctions) have long been imposed on individuals like rulers and businesspersons close to rulers who have been committing acts that are contrary to international peace and security. Considering gathered evidence on a sufficiently solid factual basis, and the duty to state reasons, such sanctioning is an accepted form of action that the EU takes, accounting for the provisions of the EU Treaties and adopted secondary law. As the EU sanctions regime has become increasingly sophisticated, the EU has begun to also impose sanctions on the family members of otherwise sanctioned persons, to ensure that EU sanctions are not easily circumvented. This article considers the lawfulness of the EU’s imposition of sanctions on family members of otherwise sanctioned persons, accounting for any potential links or associations that family members may have beyond that of being a mere relative. Whilst the EU extends the reach of its sanctions regime, it must take into account the position in society that the otherwise sanctioned person holds – whether they are members of a governing regime of a third state as a ruler, or whether they are prominent businesspersons who benefit economically from the third state – to determine the lawfulness of also imposing sanctions on their family members. Ultimately, both the Council as the decision-maker, and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) as the judicial reviewer, will have to balance the interests at stake, until an agreed upon standard can be established, with the result that the threshold for sanctions on the relatives of businesspersons and of relatives is consistent. Restrictive measures, Sanctions, Rules, Relatives, Businesspersons, Governing regime, Family, Family members, Judicial review, Court of Justice of the European Union, Court of Justice, General Court, Common Foreign and Security Policy

Kazakhstan’s January 2022 Crisis: Representations by National Experts via Social Media

This article aims at reconstructing the representations of the 2022 January crisis developed by Kazakhstani political analysts via social media. The research methodology seeks to combine quantitative and qualitative methods by assessing these representations by use of critical discourse analysis of social media posts by Kazakhstani political analysts extracted and processed by the use of API and PolyAnalysts based on marker words. The research significance lies in the unique situation of regime instability potentially providing the expert community with the chance to speak up openly. However, it is concluded that most analysts reproduced the official discourse that is in line with the discourses developed in non-democratic context. Thus, the dominant expert discourse of the January crisis is rather homogenous and relies on the dichotomies of “the old” versus “the new” as well as “the weak” versus “the strong.” As a result, the general picture by Kazakhstani political analysts looks more like a political myth about the birth of a “new Kazakhstan” than a reconstruction of the causes, actors and consequences of the January crisis. It implies that the expert community prefers controlled evolution of the state regime rather than grass roots initiated changes.

Civil Society, Neighbourhood Diversity and Deprivation in UK and Sweden

This paper explores the relationship between neighbourhood level density of civil society organisations (CSOs), diversity, and deprivation. We compare the UK and Sweden, two countries with different civil society traditions and welfare state regimes. We use data on formal civil society organisations to examine whether diverse neighbourhoods have lower levels of civil society infrastructure. In the UK, contrary to what could be expected from Putnam's assertion that diversity has a negative effect on trust, thus limiting civil society activities at the neighbourhood level, we observe a positive relationship between the density of CSOs and diversity. In Sweden, we find different patterns. First, we observe a negative correlation between CSO density and diversity. Second, we find lower density of formal CSOs in areas with high diversity and high economic disadvantage and higher density in areas characterised by low diversity and high disadvantage.

Making of a capitalist frontier: tobacco cultivation and changing agrarian relations in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) were mainly covered with forest and interspersed jhum—shifting cultivation—plots until the beginning of the British colonial period in 1760. Since then, policy interventions undertaken by the state regimes to govern and regulate the indigenous people and maximize the extraction of natural resources gradually transformed the region into a capitalist frontier. Consequently, the operation of large-scale tobacco companies in the CHT during the last two decades radically reconfigured indigenous peoples’ relationship with the land and the state. Analytically, in this article, we explore: Who has access to what? Who does what? Who gets what? And what do they do with it? Our ethnography reveals that agrarian changes via tobacco cultivation in the CHT included converting communal lands into private property, contract farming, land control polarization, and labor commodification. Despite emerging precarity, the indigenous people identified tobacco cultivation as a way to earn cash profits to build a life “free” from their inferior status—historically linked with their Pahari identity. Overall, our ethnographic findings problematizing the presumption that indigenous people evade “state spaces” to preserve their autonomy suggest that the CHT became a capitalist frontier embodying “zones of potential” and generating competing interests, actors, and imaginations.

Технология использования чернового концентрата в качестве минералов-носителей

Технология использования чернового концентрата в качестве минералов-носителей

Проблемы определения формы правления России XI – начала XVII вв. в современной историографии

Abstract. Introduction. The article is the first of two papers devoted to the research of concepts concerning the form of the state (mainly its two elements: form of government and political (state) regime) that existed during the Early and Late Middle Ages of the 11th-13th centuries (pre-Mongolian period) and the 16th - early 17th centuries (Moscow state). The authors give the theoretical and historical synthesis of approaches to the problem of the form of the state and its elements on the example of the organisation of state power in medieval Russia, the assessments of which are often directly opposite - from «absolute autocracy», «theocratic autocracy» to class-representative monarchy.
 Methods. By using dialectical, general logical methods, historical, comparative and hermeneutical methods of research, the authors critically analyse the approaches to the issue under consideration, which have been developed and are currently under development in modern historiography, as well as the ideas of scholars, framed in medieval political and legal doctrine, which forecast, approve and then propose some projects of improvement or even radical changes in the form of organisation of state power.
 Results. The authors make a conclusion that modern researches often incorrectly use the concepts of «sovereignty», «autocracy» and «unity of power» as identical; a lot of researches have no theoretical understanding of the form of the state and its elements; quite often the elements of the form of the state are combined or substituted for one another, or when referring to one element the other is considered; often there is an ungrounded substitution of the terms «autocracy» and «absolutism».

Representatives of the Central Authority and County Administration in Transylvania (1867–1925)

The transition from the administrative system of the Habsburg monarchy to that of the successor nation-states after World War I has traditionally been analysed in terms of discontinuity, or even rupture. In our research, which focuses on the specific case of Transylvania, we demonstrate that both the development of a centralised administrative system and the relationship between the state authority and local autonomies were characterised by continuity rather than change. In both the Hungarian and the Romanian state, the key institution involved in the process of diminishing local self-government was the representative of the central power in the territory (the lord lieutenant until 1918 and later the prefect). The gradual expansion of his prerogatives over institutions and county officials began in Hungary in the early 1870s, and continued until the interwar period in Romania; this was a process that extended beyond the changes in the political and state regime in 1918. Thus, for interwar Transylvania, administrative centralisation in the French tradition did not represent a paradigm shift, but instead the continuation and acceleration of an already quite advanced process that the Hungarian state, which had been eager to modernise its administrative structures, had already introduced 50 years earlier.

Humus state and nutrient regime of typical chernozem depending on fertilisation in short crop rotations

The fertiliser system is the most effective factor in the intensification of crop cultivation technologies. The basis for scientifically sound fertiliser application systems, along with obtaining the planned level of yield of the appropriate quality, is the study of the organic matter content and soil nutrient regime during crop rotation. The purpose of this study was to determine the mineral nitrogen, mobile phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, and humus content in typical chernozem under different fertilisation systems in short-term crop rotations. To solve the problem of soil fertility, an important approach is to conduct field and laboratory research to determine changes in the humus state according to Tyurin, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium regimes of the soil according to Machigin, and dispersion methods to determine the reliability of experimental data. As a result of the research, it was found that the highest humus content in the soil was recorded under the organic-mineral fertilisation system at the end of the second rotation in the grain crop rotation by 0.13% compared to the fruit crop rotation. The use of a mineral fertiliser system in a row crop rotation reduced the humus content by 0.12%. An increase in the humus content of typical chernozem was recorded under fruit crop rotation and grain-row crop rotation. The organic-mineral fertilisation system tended to increase the mineral nitrogen content of the soil compared to the other systems. The mineral nitrogen content of the mineral fertilisation system decreased by 5.5 mg/kg of soil compared to the unfertilised variant. Under the organic-mineral and mineral fertilisation system, the content of mobile phosphate increased in all crop rotations. The content of mobile phosphorus in the tilled crop rotation was substantially reduced compared to the fruit crop rotation and grain-row crop rotation. The highest content of exchangeable potassium in the soil was recorded under the mineral fertilisation system. The materials of the publications are of practical importance in the analysis of the main elements of mineral nutrition of typical chernozem in short crop rotations

The prevalence of grandparental childcare in Europe: a research update

We investigate (a) how the proportion of European grandparents providing childcare changed over a period of 15 years, (b) how these proportions differ by gender and education, and (c) how countries not covered in earlier analyses fit into previously identified regional patterns of grandparental childcare in Europe. Using data from Waves 1, 2, and 8 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), our descriptive analysis provides estimates of the prevalence and intensity of grandparental childcare in 26 European countries as well as of the changes therein over time and across socio-demographically defined groups. Overall, the prevalence and intensity of grandparental childcare in Europe has remained fairly stable over time, with minor increases. Proportions of grandparents providing any childcare strongly vary, however, across countries (from 24 to 60%). Grandmothers are generally more likely to provide childcare than grandfathers, while differences based on educational levels are less clear-cut. Central and southeastern Europe, representing the bulk of the ‘new’ countries in the analysis, exhibit patterns of grandparental childcare closely resembling those observed in Mediterranean countries. Our analysis revealed an overall stability over time rather than change in grandparents’ provision of childcare in Europe, with substantial variations across welfare state regimes and within countries when accounting for grandparents’ gender and educational levels. Including countries that had previously been excluded from other studies challenges the ‘narrative’ that has emerged around a negative macrolevel association between the provision of extensive and intensive grandparental childcare.

Modelling and assessment of hydrogen combined cycle power plant using aluminum-water reaction as renewable fuel

Owing to contamination of air and environmental hazards, the demand for sustainable fuels in power plants and other heat engines has climbed undeniably. Aluminum metal is classified among high energy density and low carbon content, which can be reacted with water and repeatedly released a large amount of heat and hydrogen. Since hydrogen is one of the zero-carbon and clean fuels, aluminum can be exploited as a promising energy-carrying and renewable source of energy. This paper is dedicated to the customization of two novel schemes of the combined cycle of power generation systems. The main components of the proposed integrated installations include a hydrogen turbine, gas turbine, multi pressure steam turbines, condenser, heat recovery steam generator and aluminum-water reactor, in which pressurized water absorbs produced heat of the reactor then superheated steam expands in steam turbines. Direct supplied hydrogen, which is generated from the Al-water reaction, expands in the hydrogen turbine and subsequently burns in the combustion chamber of the gas turbine. Hydrogen properties, consumed heat of reactor, generated powers, effects of streams pressure, energetic and exergetic productivity variation of both schemes were evaluated comparatively to ensure the best system performance along with the high net efficiency. According to the numerical analysis of the thermodynamic characteristics in steady state regime using EES software, the energy and energy efficiencies of scheme A were calculated to be 40.72% and 38.36%, besides in scheme B were 39.6% and 37.3%, respectively.

Impacts of population aging on the quantity and quality of pharmaceutical innovation: evidence from OECD countries

ABSTRACT Against the backdrop of rapid population aging, we examine the impacts of population aging on pharmaceutical innovation based on the panel data of OECD countries between 1997 and 2018. We show that population aging effectively boosts the quantity and quality of pharmaceutical innovation before the share of older adults approaches 14%, the threshold for the aged society. Once the country enters the aged society, however, population aging is no longer associated with the quantity of pharmaceutical patents, and even significantly depresses the quality of patenting. Moreover, the type of welfare state regimes plays a notable moderating role. High welfare states could effectively amplify the positive effects of aging or attenuate the negative impacts of aging on pharmaceutical innovation. Our results suggest that the dividend of aging in pharmaceutical industry does exist in the early stage of aging, and the government needs to plan ahead to ameliorate the deterioration of innovation in aged and super-aged societies.

Free Movement versus European Welfare States? Variations of the Fiscal Effects of EU Migrants across Welfare State Regimes

Strong claims have been made about the incompatibility between large-scale migration and advanced welfare states. The free movement of workers within the European Union (EU) offers an interesting case for the study of the fiscal effects of unrestricted labor migration in different types of welfare states This article therefore investigates the alleged tension between advanced welfare states and liberal migration policies by analyzing how the fiscal effects of EU migrants vary across European welfare state regimes. In contrast to arguments commonly made in public debates, we argue and explain why theoretical reasoning should lead us to expect limited differences in fiscal effects of EU migrants in different welfare states. The empirical analysis, covering twenty-nine countries during 2004–15, shows that the net fiscal impact of EU migrants in the different welfare state regimes of West European countries is positive, and we find no major differences in the fiscal impacts of EU migrants across Western regimes. These results from the EU case cast doubts on the claim that advanced welfare states are incompatible with large-scale immigration because of adverse fiscal effects, and on the idea that broad institutional characteristics of welfare states have substantial consequences for the fiscal impact of migration.

Znaczenie Konkordatu między Stolicą Apostolską i Polską w kontekście transformacji ustrojowych

The article contains the characteristics of the Concordat between the Holy See and the Republic of Poland (1993-1998). First, the Author pays attention to the religious and political ties between Poland and the Holy See at the time of the Christianity of the first historical Polish ruler, Mieszko I (966) who gave his state under the protection of the Holy See. He wanted to protect Poland from Sacrum Imperium Romanum Germanorum. Then, the Author presents the significant meaning of the Concordat between the Holy See and the Republic of Poland concluded at the time of the political transformations from the totalitarianism to the democracy and at the same time from the atheistic regime of the communist state with hostile separation to the democratic state with friendly separation. The article discusses the following issues: the notion and classification of concordat agreements, the legitimization of the concordat in axiological and formal aspects based on the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997, the range of the concordat’s regulations, the effectiveness of the concordat in domestic legal order.

Transient dynamics in mode-locked all-PM Er-doped fiber laser with NALM

In this study, we utilized the Time-Stretch Dispersive Fourier Transform (TS-DFT) method to explore rapid transient states in both time and frequency domains of an all-polarization-maintaining dispersion-managed figure-eight mode-locked laser with Nonlinear Amplifying Loop Mirror (NALM). We detail the different stages of build-up dynamics at varying pump powers, encompassing the Q-switching (QS) stage, transient single pulse formation, pulsation beating patterns, bound states, and the final transition to a single pulse state. Our findings reveal that the mode-locked bound state regime emerges from a single pulse stage following QS, different from previously reported directly resulting from QS pulses or relaxation oscillations. In a novel contribution to the field, we have experimentally demonstrated the transient single pulse stage of build-up dynamics and compared it with the fundamental mode-locked single pulse.

Transient thermomechanical axisymmetric analysis of multilayer thermoplastic composite pipes

Thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) is a promising design concept for offshore sour oil fields. The bonded structure typically consists of inner and outer homogeneous isotropic polymeric layers and intermediate transversely isotropic laminate ply layers. A theoretical transient thermomechanical analysis under axisymmetric loadings and thermal gradient subjected to convective heat transfers at the inner and outer surfaces is presented. For the heat conduction problem in a multilayer composite pipe, the transient temperature is expressed as a combination of steady state and filtered homogeneous transient solutions employing Bessel's functions. The general solution for the TCP thermomechanical axisymmetric model is also derived. An instantaneous temperature interpolation of the exact interlayer values is employed for the thermal stress analysis to overcome the difficulty of the double integration of Bessel's functions. The von Mises stress and Maximum Stress are respectively applied as failure criteria for the isotropic and laminate layers. During the warming up and cooling down, the through-thickness temperatures and stresses gradually progress from the initial towards the final steady state regime. The thermomechanical transient response is dominated by mechanically induced stresses. The transient failure indexes are below the initial and steady state values for the axisymmetric mechanical and thermal loadings during the selected warm up or cool down conditions.

Federalism and Policy Design in Two Liberal Welfare State Regimes: Comparing the Politics of Labour Market Policies in Canada and the United States

This paper explores the relationship between federalism and the policy design of labour market policies in two liberal welfare state regimes – Canada and the United States – addressing the following research question: How do variations in policy design intersect with federalism in both countries and how can these variations provide powerful, self-reinforcing or self-undermining feedback effects over time? Combining the literatures on the varieties of federalism, the liberal welfare regime, and policy design and feedback, the paper shows that paying close attention to federalism is necessary to understand diverse national policy designs that produce self-reinforcing feedback effects over time.

Of Crimes and Crowns

Abstract This article explains variation in state cooperation with International Criminal Court (ICC)’s investigations and prosecutions across cases and over time. The idea motivating this study stems from the observation of the mixed record of state cooperation with ICC operations. For legal professionals and scholars this observation is puzzling, since states falling within the ICC’s territorial jurisdiction are legally bound to provide full judicial assistance to the Court. Thus, why do some countries entertain collaborative relations with the ICC while others display hostility towards it? I argue that state leaders’ perceptions of potential ICC indictment best explain variation in state behaviour. This article aims to contribute to a better understanding of how state attitudes form and of the extent to which external actors, spearheaded by the ICC Prosecutor’s Office (OTP), can change them. The research findings suggest that: 1) neither formal state consent (ratification) nor regime type are reliable predictors of state cooperation; 2) state leaders’ perception of potential ICC indictment appears better suited to correctly predict state behaviour in all the situations investigated by the OTP; 3) the OTP’s signalling strategy — including the timing of its intervention — affects state leaders’ perception of future ICC indictment and, in turn, the prospects of state cooperation; 4) when state authorities deny cooperation, regime change provides a one-time opportunity to start ICC–state relations anew.

Assessment of Vapor Formation Rate and Phase Shift between Pressure Gradient and Liquid Velocity in Flat Mini Heat Pipes as a Function of Internal Structure.

Flat mini heat pipes (FMHPs) are often used in cooling systems for various power electronic components, as they rapidly dissipate high heat flux densities. The main objective of the present work is to experimentally investigate whether differences in the rate of vapor formation occur on an internal structure containing trapezoidal microchannels and porous sintered copper powder material. Several parameters, such as hydraulic diameter and fluid velocity through the material, as a function of the internal structure porosity, were determined by calculation for a steady state regime. Reynolds number was determined as a function of porosity, according to Darcy's law, and the Nusselt number was calculated. Since the flow is Darcy-type through the porous medium inside the FMHP, the Darcy friction factor was calculated using five methods: Colebrook, Darcy-Weisbach, Swamee-Jain, Blasius, and Haaland. After experimental tests, it was found that when the porous and trapezoidal microchannel layers are wetted at the same time, the vaporization progresses at a faster rate in the porous material, and the duration of the process is shorter. This recommends the use of such an internal structure in FMHPs since the manufacturing technology is simpler, the materials are cheaper, and the heat flux transport capacity is higher.

Automatic Classification of Field Winding Faults in Synchronous Motors Based on Bicoherence Image Segmentation and Higher Order Statistics of Stray Flux Signals

In this work, the application of the bicoherence (a squared normalized version of the bispectrum) of the stray flux signal is proposed as a way of detecting faults in the field winding of synchronous motors. These signals are analyzed both under the starting and at steady state regime. Likewise, two quantitative indicators are proposed, the first one based on the maximum values of the asymmetry and the kurtosis of the bicoherence matrix obtained from the flux signals and the second one relying on an algorithm based on the bicoherence image segmentation of the obtained pattern for each analyzed state. The results are analyzed through a comparative study for the two considered motor regimes, obtaining satisfactory results that sustain the potential application of the proposed methodology for the automatic field winding fault detection in real applications.