Universal Concept Research Articles

Equivalent uniform aerobic dose in radiotherapy for hypoxic tumors

Objective. Equivalent uniform aerobic dose (EUAD) is proposed for comparison of integrated cell survival in tumors with different distributions of hypoxia and radiation dose. Approach. The EUAD assumes that for any non-uniform distributions of radiation dose and oxygen enhancement ratio (OER) within a tumor, there is a uniform distribution of radiation dose under hypothetical aerobic conditions with OER = 1 that produces equal integrated survival of clonogenic cells. This definition of EUAD has several advantages. First, the EUAD allows one to compare survival of clonogenic cells in tumors with intra-tumor and inter-tumor variation of radio sensitivity due to hypoxia because the cell survival is recomputed under the same benchmark oxygen level (OER = 1). Second, the EUAD for homogeneously oxygenated tumors is equal to the concept of equivalent uniform dose. Main results. We computed the EUAD using radiotherapy dose and the OER derived from the 18F-Fluoromisonidazole PET (18F-FMISO PET) images of hypoxia in patients with glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive type of primary malignant brain tumor. The 18F-FMISO PET images include a distribution of SUV (Standardized Uptake Value); therefore, the SUV is converted to partial oxygen pressure (pO2) and then to the OER. The prognostic value of EUAD in radiotherapy for hypoxic tumors is demonstrated using correlation between EUAD and overall survival (OS) in radiotherapy for glioblastoma. The correction to the EUAD for the absolute hypoxic volume that traceable to the tumor control probability improves the correlation with OS. Significance. While the analysis proposed in this research is based on the 18F-FMISO PET images for glioblastoma, the EUAD is a universal radiobiological concept and is not associated with any specific cancer or any specific PET or MRI biomarker of hypoxia. Therefore, this research can be generalized to other cancers, for example stage III lung cancer, and to other hypoxia biomarkers.

Universality as a Historical-Political Problem: On the Limits of Buck-Morss’ Conceptualisation of Universality

ABSTRACT The present article revolves around the notion of universality and its relation to freedom and temporal orientation in contemporary political thought, with a focus on Susan Buck-Morss' notion of universality. The purpose is twofold. Firstly, I discern and critique the historico-political premises of her approach. Secondly, I suggest an alternative historico-political approach to universality addressing the drawbacks of her approach. I present three objections to her approach. Drawing on Arendt's distinction between liberation and the practice of freedom, I first present a critique of the conceptualisation of freedom on which Buck-Morss' approach hinges, arguing that she overemphasises the moment of liberation. Thereafter, I turn to her reflections on historical orientation. My third objection concentrates on Buck-Morss' concept of universality. As a heuristic tool to expound on my critique, I activate the distinction between fictive and ideal universality as suggested by Étienne Balibar. I contend that Arendt's distinction between liberation and the practice of freedom efficiently elucidates the questions at stake in Balibar's discussion, as well as how his distinction points to the limits of Buck-Morss' argumentation. Ultimately, I contend that these critical remarks open up for a more dialectical approach to universality as a historical-political problem.

The Aesthetics of Rhetoric in On the Sublime of Longinus

This article localizes the treatise On the Sublime in the Hellenistic culture of the 3rd century. It is by some scholars attributed to Cassius Longinus, while others reject this attribution and cultural context completely. We argue that On the Sublime is by Longinus written and a document that is both a piece of evidence for the cultural change of a decline in the practice of rhetoric and also exemplifies the transformation and subordination of rhetoric to newly emerging concepts in the Hellenistic culture of Late Antiquity. We interpret the changing rhetorical culture its author observes as a state of rhetoric at the end of the movement of the Second Sophistic. The historical frame and the name of the author of the treatise, Longinus, is documented by the Suda and other sources. On the Sublime itself puts rhetorical devices into a new framework exceeding the limits of traditional treatises called rhetorike techne. ‘The sublime’ is present in nature, in god, in humans, and in artifices like writings of rhetoricians, philosophers, poets, and historians. With this contextualization as a universal principle, the sublime, previously used as a criterion of style and thinking, is by Longinus established as a universal concept.

Влияние автора искусственной литературной вселенной на взаимосвязь типа квазиреалии с ее функцией (на материале литературных вселенных Дж.Р.Р. Толкина и Ф. Герберта)

This paper examines the correlation between the type and function of quasi-realia, as well as the influence that the author of the work has on this correlation. Due to the growing popularity of artificial universes (film universes, literary universes, game universes, etc.) in recent years, the question has arisen of analyzing the realities that the author creates for his artificial world, i.e., quasi-realia. Two of the most famous and large-scale literary universes were used as research material – the epic novel “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien and “Dune” by F. Herbert. This study examines the functions and types of quasi-realia of both literary universes and also conducts a factor analysis for the existence of a relationship between the concept of the literary universe, its author, and the type-function pair of quasi- realia.

THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SYSTEM IN THE CONTEXT OF A CIVILIZATIONAL SOCIETY

This article is devoted to the problem of civilizational society in the context of considering the socio-economic system. To date, there are a certain number of approaches to understanding this phenomenon. A classic example is the materialistic approach. Despite numerous attempts to criticize this approach, studying society through the prism of its socio-economic structure is largely possible due to the materialistic approach. The concept of K. Marx is considered and an analogy with modern realities is drawn. This approach has universal concepts and laws that can also be used in the analysis of all social systems. The article examines the conflicts of capital and labor, the place and role of the working class in the system of social relations, and also proves the importance of the proletariat class as the main driving force of modern society. The problems faced by the working class today are being studied. The types of socio-economic systems with individual criteria and the nature of property relations are considered. Goal. The article is devoted to the analysis of modern socio-economic systems within the framework of a civilizational society. The subject is the socio-economic system arising from the nature of public relations. The novelty lies in the fact that the working class is being studied in the context of modern scientific, technical and information breakthroughs, where competition for jobs increases with each new technology. The method or methodology of the work. The study is based on the teachings of K. Marx. Methods such as analysis, synthesis, comparative studies and historical and philosophical are also used. Results. The conducted research makes it possible to understand that despite the abundance of approaches to the concept of a civilizational society, the fundamental factor of studying remains its socio-economic sphere, as a result of public relations. The article reveals the Marxist approach, thanks to which it is possible to assess the position of the working class in modern civilizational society. Taking into account the growth of culture, the emergence of new technologies and the age of digitalization, the fundamental criterion for ensuring the vital activity of society was and remains – the worker. Different types of socio-economic systems and the methodology of the distribution of economic resources are given. The scope of the results. The results obtained can be used in the context of the implementation of state social policy, regulatory culture, as well as forecasting social and labor conflicts.

Vedic Literature and Its Universal Concepts: Rishi, Devata and Chanda

Rishi, Devata, Chanda, are the three foundational pillars of the four Vedas: Rik,Yaju, Sama and Atharva. Each of these four is collection of mantra and mantra collection is called Samhita. Each Samhita consists of Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanisad texts and these are interpretive texts of Samhita. Both Samhita and interpretive texts form the vast body of Vedic literature. Samhitas are original texts whereas Brahmana and Aranyaka are their interpretations, and the Upanisads are philosophic texts of the Vedas. Rishi, Devata and Chanda are formative elements of the Vedas. Rishis are the wise scholars who have realized Vedic mantras and handed the same to their disciples which in the long run develop different Sakha or branches of each Veda and such sakha altogether were 1131 and now only 26 sakha with their texts are available. Concept of Devata is suggestive of the theme and the subject matter of Vedic literature. In the Vedas Devatas are representatives of divine entity having certain physical form. The sun, the wind/ Indra and Agni (fire) are three Devata of the space, interspace and the earth. Vedas discusses One Almighty Brahma/ Purusha taking different forms as Devata based on various performances. Each Vedic Samhita and all interpretive literature follow structural pattern and especially Rigveda follows rigid metrical pattern. Each mantra of Vedic literature demands proper understanding of its Rishi, Devata and Chanda in order to capture its true spirit.

Universality of human rights: theoretical dimension

The article is sanctified to theoretical research of the concept of the universality of human rights as a process of establishment of corresponding norms and mechanisms of universal character with the aim of defence and providing of human rights, and also concept of universality - as an achievement of certain perfection in the protection of human rights. This universality shows up as a transcendent aspect. Universal rights are rights everybody has that as personality, regardless of legal space or historical time. Consideration of this aspect is very important for the ground of absoluteness of human rights. The idea of universality of human rights is based on position that human rights have exterritorial character and that their realization and defence are not business only of the separate states, but is the article of general interest. Universality of human rights arises out of universality of human nature. Quality of practical changes in development of the modern states largely depends on ideas about universality of human rights and reasons of optimization of human rights.
 Problem of the general understanding of concept of universality of human rights, causes much violation of human rights and freedoms, and her it costs to decide through the search of ways of understanding of universality of rights and freedoms, through description of basic elements that determine maintenance of the modes of human rights, by finding out of all totality of descriptions each of elements - right and moral, social and other terms that can come forward as a stimulant or vice versa, their realization prevent. The most frequent misunderstanding in relation to understanding of universality of human rights arises up when speech йдеться about countries that develop, that not only feel different difficulties of economic, social and cultural character in realization of that or other convention on human rights but also in relation to different reasons does not welcome omnifying of human rights or, at least up to a point, behave to her with a carefulness. It is in-process carried out research of theoretical analysis of different conceptions of understanding of universality of human rights, discussion and discussion of opinions of supporters of cultural relativism and universalism.
 Today by a reference-point in the difficult and contradictory situations of the modern world, there must be universal human rights, that would express the clear limits of his freedom, place in society, to intercommunication with the state or with other individuals. Must yield to no doubt in the modern world, judgement, that human rights are an inalienable, inalienable achievement of all humanity.

Signifying unity: exploring the interplay of semiotics, universalism and pluralism in information science

PurposeThe purpose of this study is twofold: first, to provide a nuanced understanding of the information concept that encapsulates both its universal foundations and context-dependent intricacies, and second, to propose a theoretical framework that integrates these diverse viewpoints, thereby contributing to the theoretical discourse and practical applications in information science/studies (IS).Design/methodology/approachThe aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between universalism and pluralism in connection with semiotics. The paper adopts a conceptual approach based on semiotics to address the long-standing debate over the definition of information in IS. By engaging with two foundational semiotic theories—C.S. Peirce's pragmatic semiotics and Ferdinand de Saussure's structuralist semiotics – the research seeks to bridge the conflicting perspectives of universalism and pluralism within the field.FindingsThe findings reveal that Peirce's semiotics, with its universalist core, views information as dynamic and shaped by context, while Saussure's approach, which is rooted in linguistics, emphasizes the relational aspects of sign systems and connects them to pluralism. This comparative analysis facilitates a broad understanding of information that transcends the limitations of singular perspectives. In conclusion, the paper seeks to demonstrate that the integration of universalist and pluralist perspectives through semiotics offers a more holistic approach to the study of information in IS. It contributes to the field by suggesting that the tension between these perspectives is not only reconcilable but also essential for a richer and more complete understanding of information. This theoretical foundation paves the way for future research and practical advancements in IS and advocates for approaches that recognize the complexity and multifaceted nature of information.Research limitations/implicationsThe study engages with theoretical frameworks, predominantly semiotic theories by C.S. Peirce and Ferdinand de Saussure. While this provides a deep conceptual understanding, the lack of empirical data may limit the practical applicability of the findings. The research focuses on two semiotic perspectives, which, although foundational, do not represent the entirety of semiotics or information theory. Other significant semiotic theories and perspectives could provide alternative or complementary insights. The concepts of universalism and pluralism in information science are highly intricate and multifaceted. This study's approach to synthesizing these concepts, while comprehensive, might oversimplify some aspects of these complex paradigms.Originality/valueThe paper's originality lies in its unique integration of semiotic theories into the discourse of IS. This integration offers a novel perspective on understanding the concept of information, bridging the gap between universalist and pluralist approaches. The study presents a new conceptual framework for understanding information that combines elements of universalism (consistent, objective understanding of information) and pluralism (context-dependent, subjective interpretations). This dual approach is relatively unexplored in IS literature, providing fresh insights into the complex nature of information.

A universal additive concept yields record-high efficient organic solar cells

A universal additive concept yields record-high efficient organic solar cells

Evaluatology: The science and engineering of evaluation

Evaluation is a crucial aspect of human existence and plays a vital role in each field. However, it is often approached in an empirical and ad-hoc manner, lacking consensus on universal concepts, terminologies, theories, and methodologies. This lack of agreement has significant consequences. This article aims to formally introduce the discipline of evaluatology, which encompasses the science and engineering of evaluation. We propose a universal framework for evaluation, encompassing concepts, terminologies, theories, and methodologies that can be applied across various disciplines, if not all disciplines.Our research reveals that the essence of evaluation lies in conducting experiments that intentionally apply a well-defined evaluation condition to individuals or systems under scrutiny, which we refer to as the subjects. This process allows for the creation of an evaluation system or model. By measuring and/or testing this evaluation system or model, we can infer the impact of different subjects. Derived from the essence of evaluation, we propose five axioms focusing on key aspects of evaluation outcomes as the foundational evaluation theory. These axioms serve as the bedrock upon which we build universal evaluation theories and methodologies. When evaluating a single subject, it is crucial to create evaluation conditions with different levels of equivalency. By applying these conditions to diverse subjects, we can establish reference evaluation models. These models allow us to alter a single independent variable at a time while keeping all other variables as controls. When evaluating complex scenarios, the key lies in establishing a series of evaluation models that maintain transitivity. Building upon the science of evaluation, we propose a formal definition of a benchmark as a simplified and sampled evaluation condition that guarantees different levels of equivalency. This concept serves as the cornerstone for a universal benchmark-based engineering approach to evaluation across various disciplines, which we refer to as benchmarkology.

Classifying Musical Medium of Performance: Object or Property?

ABSTRACT: How best to classify musical medium of performance? We welcome the advice and expertise of the community of Notes readers to inform our deliberations. Specifically, when referring to the sources of musical sound, should we be describing the objects (e.g., aerophone), the properties (e.g., piccolo), or some combination of the two? The Institute for Knowledge Organization and Structure convened a research group to discuss “the phenomena of music for classification.” What does it mean to classify the phenomena of music rather than musical documents or documents containing texts about music? How might we represent music apart from its documentary representations (scores, recordings, etc.)? We considered the Library of Congress Medium of Performance Thesaurus (LCMPT) and Hornbostel-Sachs (H-S) classification. The universal Basic Concepts Classification (BCC) is interdisciplinary and is organized around phenomena (things), relators (the relationships that exist among phenomena), and the properties that phenomena and relators may possess. We sought a comprehensive classification of medium of performance for the BCC. H-S focuses on the physical nature of instruments and how they make sound, the LCMPT effectively identifies specific instruments by name. H-S does not provide the level of granularity that we need but LCMPT’s larger set of terms are organized with only a few layers of hierarchy. H-S avoids local nomenclature, LCMPT embraces it. The two are attractive because they provide well-developed vocabulary and because their differences manifest as different strengths for a Semantic Web application. Ultimately our analysis reaches no specific conclusion. Instead, we have reflected thoroughly on the panoply of phenomena associated with the representation of medium of performance as phenomena of music in nondocumentary contexts.

Prevention of disaster triggered by crowd surge: comparative insights in selected countries and Indonesia

Introduction: Hazards, whether caused by natural or human activities, can potentially lead to disaster. In 2015, the United Nations (UN) at its conference in Sendai, Japan established a framework related to disaster risk reduction to be guided until 2030. However, disaster management related to human-induced hazards has received less attention. The Covid-19 pandemic that has been overcome has made restrictions on human movement begin to loosen. With the increase in travel between regions, countries, and continents, people began to form crowds at events related to religion, entertainment, sports, and other activities. A poorly managed crowd develops into an uncontrolled crowd or riot, and disaster ensues. This paper aims to develop alternative prevention efforts so that similar disasters do not occur in the future. Methods: The method of this paper is a literature review and systematic content analysis of previous scientific articles and research. First, the paper describes disasters at planned events such as music concerts in Texas, United States, and less planned ones such as the Halloween festival in Seoul, South Korea. Then the countermeasures of the two events were compared with the incident in Malang, Indonesia. Finding: The result is that strong cooperation between related parties is needed in organizing events to maintain community safety. The use of technology and tightening regulations can be factors supporting the prevention of this disaster. Increasing the capacity of communities to deal with similar disaster risks is still not widely discussed, so further research is needed. Conclusion: Islamic science is a comprehensive paradigm, similar to Western science, that can serve as a framework for scientists from various fields of knowledge. The Islamic paradigm attempts to critique the concept of universality, which has been one of the values embraced by the Western scientific paradigm. This concept has been one of the reasons why scientific revolutions have occurred slowly.

National and Cultural Content of the Heart Concept in the Axiological Component of the Worldview

The focus of the article is the universal Heart concept, which actively functions in many languages and is an integral component in constructing a figurative picture of the world. In the work, through the study of the Heart concept in the discourse of Russian, Kyrgyz, Dungan and Arabic languages, various semantic meanings and images evoked by it in the minds of speakers of different cultures are revealed; the national and cultural content of the concept is described; the features of the interpretation of the concept under consideration and its axiology are determined; the highest priority semantic meanings for the compared cultures are identified.

General Entropy Approach Toward Ultratough Sustainable Plastics.

Entropy is a universal concept across the physics of mixtures. While the role of entropy in other multicomponent materials has been appreciated, its effects in polymers and plastics have not. In this work, it is demonstrated that the seemingly small mixing entropy contributes to the miscibility and performance of polymer alloys. Experimental and modeling studies on over 30 polymer pairs reveal a strong correlation between entropy, morphology, and mechanical properties, while elucidating the mechanism behind: in polymer blends with weak interactions, entropy leads to homogeneously dispersed nanosized domains stabilized by highly entangled chains. This unique microstructure promotes uniform plastic deformation at the interface, thus improving the toughness of conventional brittle polymers by 1-2 orders of magnitude without sacrificing other properties, analogous to high-entropy metallic alloys. The proposed strategy also applies to ternary polymer systems and copolymers, offering a new pathway toward the development of sustainable polymers.

Exploring self-care and cervical cancer prevention attitudes and practices among Moroccan and Pakistani immigrant women in Catalonia, Spain: a comparative qualitative study.

Self-care and preventive health strategies may trigger health inequities when individuals' cultural values and health beliefs are not fully understood and considered. In the case of cervical cancer (CC) screening programs immigrant women have shown lower attendance compared with native women, which increases the risk of late diagnosis and, consequently, a lower probability of survival. HPV self-sampling for CC screening has been recently added to the World Health Organization's (WHO) list of self-care interventions as a promising tool to reduce this disparity and improve screening coverage. In Catalonia, Spain, the introduction of HPV self-sampling as a part of the new population-based CC screening program, is a significant step. However, there is a lack of research addressing self-care and prevention among immigrant populations in this region. This study aims to fill this gap exploring self-care and prevention attitudes and practices among Moroccan and Pakistani women. We conducted focus groups and individual interviews with 36 Moroccan and 37 Pakistani women in Barcelona, Spain. The topic guide of the focus groups included case vignettes to stimulate the discussion and a semi-structured questionnaire was used for the interviews. Our findings show that most Moroccan and Pakistani women do not prioritize self-care and prevention. They seek care for symptom treatment rather than disease prevention. In this sense, they reported not having the habit of doing regular check-ups and their self-care and prevention attitudes and practices seemed to be conditioned by cultural values. The implementation of an effective call and recall system could enhance the engagement of these populations with CC screening services. This study provides evidence on how universal concepts of self-care and prevention may not aligned with more collectivist societies, emphasizing the limited applicability and motivation of global self-care interventions guidelines for individuals with different cultural backgrounds and values. Therefore, the successful implementation of CC screening programs or any other self-care intervention requires the adoption of culturally appropriate strategies.

Cosmic Emotions; or, Why Is the Universe Joyful according to Plato’s Timaeus and Empedocles?

Plato and Empedocles depict a universe that manifests beauty, goodness, reason, and bliss. This article aims to investigate why both philosophers felt it important to describe a cosmos that participates in a human emotion such as happiness. First, it will be shown how both Plato and Empedocles could not dispense with embodied human experience, including emotional experience, in the formation of cosmological concepts. Indeed, their respective cosmoi are constructed through notions derived from the conceptual domain of human agency. Second, attention will also be paid to Plato and Empedocles’ reconstruction of the notion of the happy life. The main argument advanced here is that both Plato and Empedocles conceive of their (macro)cosmos as a paradigm of behavior, so that the conception of a happy universe has a significant ethical function at the level of the microcosm, ultimately demonstrating the centrality of the concept of happiness in the doctrines of both authors. byChiara FerellaJohannes Gutenberg University, Mainzferella@unimainz.de

Dynamics of American Political Discourse of the 20th – Early 21st Centuries

The article addresses dynamics of conceptual space and communicative organization of the American political discourse in the 20 th – early 21 st centuries. The research objective is to identify transformations in the content of universal and nationally-marked concepts, as well as verbal modification of communicative strategies and tactics in the American political discourse of the periods under study. The main research methods applied are discourse, conceptual, semantic, and contextual analysis. The sampling corpus incorporates 662 public speeches of American presidents. The speeches under analysis belong to the ritual, orientational, and agonal genres of the political discourse. The main discourse-forming and nationally-marked concepts, features of the communicative structure of the American political discourse are established. The analysis of the metaphorical system as a way of realizing the intention in the American political discourse is carried out. The main types of conceptual metaphor, representing the discourse-forming concepts of the American political discourse are considered. The American political discourse conceptual space is more prone to transformations than its communicative structure in the studied timeframe. The nationally-marked concepts tend to be more dynamic than the universal discourse-forming concepts. The conceptual dynamism of the nationally-marked concepts manifests itself in the prevalence of the dominant features and the lacunarity at different stages of the American linguo-cultural community existence. The nationally-marked concepts components related to the historical and socio-cultural aspects of the speaking community life are brought into the open in the speeches of American presidents as transmitters of the national cultural values and role-status configurations in the political discourse of the 20 th – early 21 st centuries.

Universal modes: Calibration-free time-interleaved acquisition of modes.

To introduce universal modes by applying the universal pulse concept to time-interleaved acquisition of modes (TIAMO), thereby achieving calibration-free inhomogeneity mitigation for body imaging at ultra-high fields. Two databases of different RF arrays were used to demonstrate the feasibility of universal modes. The first comprised 31 cardiac in vivo data sets acquired at 7T while the second consisted of 6 simulated 10.5T pelvic data sets. Subject-specific solutions and universal modes were computed and subsequently evaluated alongside predefined default modes. For the cardiac database, subdivision into subpopulations was investigated. The optimization was performed using least-squares (LS) TIAMO and acquisition modes optimized for refocused echoes (AMORE). Finally, universal modes based on simulated pelvis data were applied in vivo at 10.5T. In all studied cases, the universal modes yield improvements over the predefined default modes of up to 51% (cardiac) and 30% (pelvic) in terms of median excitation error when using two modes. The subpopulation-specific cardiac solutions revealed a further improvement of universal modes at the expense of increased errors when applied outside the appropriate subpopulation. Direct application of simulation-based universal modes in vivo resulted in up to a 14% reduction in excitation error compared to default modes and up to a 34% reduction in peak 10 g local specific absorption rate (SAR) compared to subject-specific solutions. Universal modes are feasible for calibration-free inhomogeneity mitigation at ultra-high fields. In addition, simulation-based solutions can be applied directly in vivo, eliminating the need for large in vivo databases.

칸트 선험성에 기초한 학교안전정책 체계성 연구

The purpose of this paper is to infer the experientiality and complementarity of the concept of school safety based on Kant's concepts of inevitability and universality, which are signs of a priori, and to critically review school safety policies based on this. Kant's philosophy is based on a priori, and the a priori that makes experience possible is a sign of inevitability that does not allow coincidences and universality that does not allow exceptions. The concept of school safety subjectively has experiential characteristics based on coincidences and exception, and objectively has a complementary nature of individual studies related to curriculum and educational administration. The institutionalization of school safety instructor qualifications or the current mandatory school safety education hours and result reporting that do not meet these empirical and supplementary characteristics of school safety have limitations that make it difficult to achieve policy results. It is necessary to implement practical school safety by establishing and implementing policies that are consistent with the empirical and supplementary nature of school safety.

Peace needs constant reproduction: The temporality of the diplomatic system

If a diplomatic cocktail party lasts two hours, does it equal the duration of peace? Or are there less simplistic conceptualizations of ‘peace’ and ‘time’ for the theorization of diplomatic practices? This article draws on a concept of temporality based on an irreversible before/after distinction, and combines it with the modern systems theoretical premise that every event within the diplomatic system occurs under the medium of peace, finding that: (a) peace is not a state of affairs, but a medium of communication; (b) peace has no chronometric duration, but it is temporally minimal, vanishing as soon as it appears; (c) peace needs constant reproduction, i.e. the system of diplomacy regenerates itself by continuously triggering further peace-mediated events; and (d) peace is both negative and positive, as it denotes a restraint of violent capacities but needs active communication. These insights offer a universal concept of ‘peace’ that is abstract enough to cover every interpolity tie. They also suggest further research opportunities, including into what the rapid acceleration of society means for the proliferation of ever-quicker, ever-more-trivial diplomatic practices.