bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Distribution and population density of the Russian desman (Desmana moschata L., Talpidae, Insectivora) in the Middle Volga of Russia
Authors: Andreychev Alexey , Kuznetsov Vyacheslav , Lapshin Alexandr
Published: March 2020

To date according to the registration work, the number of the Russian desman determined actually is 588 individuals in Mordovia. Based on extrapolation, the total desman population in Mordovia is about 1,400 individuals. We may assume that the most of the desman population is concentrated on floodplain lakes and reclamation canals. The highest density of the desman population in Mordovia was recorded in Krasnoslobodsky and Temnikovsky Districts (10.5 and 8.2 burrows per km, respectively). About 400 animals may live on the shore of the rivers Vad, Partsa, Yavas, Vindrey, Nuluy, and Kundybolka. The mean value of density of the desman population on the rivers was 0.9 burrows per km of the coastline, which corresponded to habitat quality class IV (0.5–5 burrows per km). The distribution of habitats across river basins is extremely uneven. The main part of the desman population is restricted to the Moksha basin (more than 1,350 individuals), and in the Alatyr basin (left tributary of the Sura River) just twenty individuals were recorded.
Reflections of active forest owners to the public-private forestry support system in Estonia
Authors: Põllumäe Priit , Lilleleht Ando , Korjus Henn
Published: March 2020

Private forest owners are increasingly responsible for providing an extensive range of goods and services from their forests, as there are around 100,000 forest owners in Estonia. In order to support forest owners in providing these services, the state has continuously backed the forestry sector and established a public-private partnership with forest owners’ associations as well as their umbrella organisations and cooperatives. The aim of this paper is to identify the service and information needs of private forest owners in the context of this established support system. Using a survey sample of 757 respondents, we found that in regard to informational needs more focus should be put on forest management activities, i.e. on available information about service providers’ contacts, prices, options and principles for selling harvesting rights and timber. Furthermore, joint timber sales as a service should be further developed and focused on. While forest owners ranked highly both the information about financial support and the specific measures, they found the system sometimes too complicated. Both in terms of information and service importance-performance, forest owners indicated certification as a low-priority topic. Whilst interest representation in policy processes was indicated as a very important service, its performance was rated quite modestly indicating slight dissatisfaction with the current arrangements. There are also several socio-demographic attributes of forest owners that influence their needs for information and services about forest management. However, a better understanding of these attributes might help develop the system further.
First Ply Failure Analysis of Laminated Composite Beam for Different Boundary Conditions Under Thermo Mechanical Loading
Authors: Choudhury Arnab , Mondal Samar Chandra , Sarkar Susenjit
Published: March 2020

Failure analysis of a laminated composite beam subjected to uniformly distributed load and thermal load is studied for different boundary conditions and fiber orientation angles, based on first ply failure load. Three different boundary conditions are studied: simply supported, fixed-fixed and fixed-free. The strength ratio is computed and compared for different failure theories. The effect of fiber orientation angle and aspect ratio on the strength ratio based on first ply failure load is presented in the paper. The strength ratio and transverse deflection are determined for Graphite/Epoxy and Glass/Epoxy composite and their hybrid combinations to find out the optimum hybrid composite beam with minimum weight, deflection and cost. The problem is solved in MATLAB platform. The mode of failure of the composite beam is determined by using maximum stress theory.
Mixed Convection in MHD Flow and Heat Transfer Rate Near a Stagnation-Point on a Non-Linear Vertical Stretching Sheet
Authors: Fenuga O.J. , Hassan A.R. , Olanrewaju P.O.
Published: March 2020

This work investigates the mixed convection in a Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow and heat transfer rate near a stagnation-point region over a nonlinear vertical stretching sheet. Using a similarity transformation, the governing equations are transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations which are solved numerically using the fourth order Runge-Kutta method with shooting technique. The influence of pertinent flow parameters on velocity, temperature, surface drag force and heat transfer rate are computed and analyzed. Graphical and tabular results are given to examine the nature of the problem. The heat transfer rate at the surface increases with the mixed convection.
The Characteristics of Selected Triaxiality Measures of the Stresses for a C(T) Specimen Dominated by the Plane Strain State
Authors: Graba M.
Published: March 2020

The paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the stress field and selected triaxiality parameters near the crack tip for C(T) specimen dominated by the plane strain state using the finite element method. It includes some theoretical information about elastic-plastic fracture mechanics, the basics of the FEM modeling and presentation of the numerical results. The FEM analysis includes calculations with large strain assumptions. The influence of the external load and crack length is discussed. Additional elements of the paper are a qualitative assessment of the size of plastic zones and the crack tip opening displacement.
A Non-Singular Analytical Technique for Reinforced Non-Circular Holes in Orthotropic Laminate
Authors: Mohan Pradeep , Kumar R. Ramesh
Published: March 2020

The intricacy in Lekhnitskii’s available single power series solution for stress distribution around hole edge for both circular and noncircular holes represented by a hole shape parameter ε is decoupled by introducing a new technique. Unknown coefficients in the power series in ε are solved by an iterative technique. Full field stress distribution is obtained by following an available method on Fourier solution. The present analytical solution for reinforced square hole in an orthotropic infinite plate is derived by completely eliminating stress singularity that depends on the concept of stress ratio. The region of validity of the present analytical solution on reinforcement area is arrived at based on a comparison with the finite element analysis. The present study will also be useful for deriving analytical solution for orthotropic shell with reinforced noncircular holes.
Heat Transfer Enhancement from a Heated Plate with Hemispherical Convex Dimples by Forced Convection Along with a Cross Flow Jet Impingement
Authors: Patro P. , Garnayak S.
Published: March 2020

In the present study, heat transfer from a small three dimensional rectangular channel due to turbulent jet impinging from a nozzle normal to the main flow at the inlet has been investigated. Hemispherical convex dimples are attached to the bottom plate from where heat transfer calculations are to be performed. Numerical simulations were performed using the finite volume method with SST k– ω turbulence model. The duct and nozzle Reynolds number are varied in the range of 10000 ≤ ReD ≤ 50000 and 6000 ≤ Red ≤ 12000, respectively. Different nozzle positions (X/D = 10.57, 12.88, 15.19) along the axial direction of the rectangular duct have been considered. It has been found that higher heat transfer is observed at X/D = 10.57 as compared to the other positions. The heat transfer enhancements with and without cross-flow effects have also been compared. It has been shown that the heat transfer rate with cross-flow is found to be much higher than that without cross-flow. Also, the effect of dimples on the heated surface on heat transfer was investigated. The heat transfer is found to be greater in the presence of a dimpled surface than a plane surface.
A Numerical Study of Dissipative Chemically Reactive Radiative MHD Flow Past a Vertical Cone with Nonuniform Mass Flux
Authors: Sambath P. , Sankar D.S. , Viswanathan K.K.
Published: March 2020

A computational model is presented to explore the properties of heat source, chemically reacting radiative, viscous dissipative MHD flow of an incompressible viscous fluid past an upright cone under inhomogeneous mass flux. A numerical study has been carried out to explore the mass flux features with the help of Crank-Nicolson finite difference scheme. This investigation reveals the influence of distinct significant parameters and the obtained outputs for the transient momentum, temperature and concentration distribution near the boundary layer is discussed and portrayed graphically for the active parameters such as the Schmidt number Sc, thermal radiation Rd, viscous dissipation parameter ɛ, chemical reaction parameter λ, MHD parameter M and heat generation parameter Δ. The significant effect of parameters on shear stress, heat and mass transfer rates are also illustrated.
Two Dimensional Deformation of a Multilayered Thermoelastic Half-Space Due to Surface Loads and Heat Source
Authors: Vashishth A.K. , Rani K. , Singh K.
Published: March 2020

This article deals with a 2-D problem of quasi-static deformation of a multilayered thermoelastic medium due to surface loads and heat source. The propagator matrix is obtained for the multilayered formalism of thermoelastic layers. Analytical solutions, in terms of the displacements, stresses, heat flux and temperature function, are obtained for normal strip and line loads, shear strip and line loads and strip and line heat sources. Numerical computation of the obtained analytical expressions is also done. The effects of layering have been studied. For the verification of the results, results of earlier studies have been obtained as particular cases of the present study.
Dynamics of Welded Rails Gap and Hardness of Rail Base
Authors: Zaitseva T.I. , Blinova I.V. , Uzdin A.M.
Published: March 2020

The problem of gap estimation for a break of a continuous welded rail is studied. The track is represented as a semi-infinite rod on elastic-based damping. Static and dynamic solutions are obtained. It is shown that during the rail break, the dynamic factor does not exceed 1.5. We derive equations for thermal deformation of the welded rail of jointless track on an elastic foundation in the presence of the insert into the base with another characteristic stiffness. It is shown that the presence of the insertion of up to 20% of the length of the rail, with both large and small stiffness, has a little effect on the stress-strain state (SSS) of the track. The presence of a rigid insert may increase the clearance of an accidental break of the rail, which has a negative effect on traffic safety.
Hyaluronic Acid, Spleen Size and Prothrombin Time Predict the Existence of High-Risk Esophageal Varices in Non-Viral Cirrhosis in Real Life
Authors: Sovaila Silvia , Purcarea Adrian , Fauchart Jean Pierre , Gheonea Dan , Ciurea Tudorel
Published: March 2020

Background and aims. Biomarkers are a simple and inexpensive way to replace the invasive diagnostic test(1,2). Portal hypertension screening recommendations in cirrhotic patients propose two such biomarkers: the platelet count and liver elastography. This recommendation derives from studies on viral cirrhosis(3). Viral cirrhosis is biologically and histologically different from steatosis related cirrhosis and traditional biomarkers used for high-risk varices screening might not be of use in this category. We aimed to evaluate their utility compared to other biomarkers for the prediction of high-risk varices of non-viral etiology in cirrhotic patients.

Methods. Our current study is a monocentric, real-life, cross-sectional analysis of non-viral cirrhosis patients.

Results. 50 patients with suspected cirrhosis, who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, were included prospectively for over 8 months and 41 were analyzed. The etiology was steatohepatitis (alcohol and non-alcohol related steatohepatitis). Hyaluronic acid (AUC 0.866, r =0.600), prothrombin time (AUC 0.708, r =0.445) and spleen size (AUC 0.763, r =0.337) significantly correlated with high-risk esophageal varices. In the meantime, liver stiffness was difficult to obtain and only correlated modestly with high-risk esophageal varices and platelet count was a poor predictor of high-risk esophageal varices in this mainly steatosis related cohort of cirrhotic patients.

Conclusion. We proposed hyaluronic acid, spleen size and prothrombin time as alternatives biomarkers for portal hypertension in steatohepatitis patients. Their potency should be further proven in larger studies.
Apoptosis in Acute Kidney Injury
Authors: Stoian Marilena , Dumitrache Ana Maria , Cîrciu Fivi , Stănică Roxana , Stoica Victor
Published: March 2020

Apoptosis is an inborn process that has been preserved during evolution; it allows the cells to systematically inactivate, destroy and dispose of their own components thus leading to their death. This program can be activated by both intra and extracellular mechanisms. The intracellular components involve a genetically defined development program while the extracellular aspects regard endogenous proteins, cytokines and hormones as well as xenobiotics, radiations, oxidative stress and hypoxia. The ability of a cell to enter apoptosis as a response to a „death” signal depends on its proliferative status, the position in the cell cycle and also on the controlled expression of those genes that have the capacity of promoting and inhibiting cell death. The fine regulation of these parameters needs to be maintained in order to ensure the physiological environment required for the induction of apoptosis.

In this review, we first describe evidence for the role of apoptotic pathways in ischemic acute renal failure, and then consider the potential mechanisms that may participate in this model of acute renal tubular injury. Potential therapeutic interventions to prevent tubular apoptosis in renal disease include angiotensin system inhibition, whereby the angiotensin II AT2 receptor blockade seems more promising in apoptosis inhibition than the inhibition of other receptor subtypes. A better understanding of the mechanisms of apoptosis could lead to safer and more specific therapeutic interventions for acute kidney injury.
2019 ESC/EAS Guidelines for Dyslipidaemia – What’s New?
Authors: Andronache Diana-Adriana , Bădilă Elisabeta
Published: March 2020

The European Society of Cardiology and the European Atherosclerotic Society are recommending in the 2019 guideline for dyslipidemia the best management strategies for an individual patient with a given condition.

The guideline recommends the use of new tests to help identify high-risk patients. These include both coronary artery calcium imaging and biomarker tests.

Modifications have also been made to the risk stratification categories, so that patients with atherosclerotic artery disease, diabetes mellitus with target organ damage, familial hypercholesterolaemia and severe chronic kidney disease are all included in very-high risk patients.

The new ESC/EAS guideline for dyslipidemia management compared with the 2016 version include more intensive reduction of LDL-c across CV risk categories. If the goals are not achieved with the maximum tolerated dose of statin, combination with ezetimibe is recommended. An important message of the new guideline is that until this moment there are no known adverse effects of very low LDL-c concentrations.
2019 ESC Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Acute Pulmonary Embolism: Habemus (Novam) Lex!
Authors: Petriş Antoniu Octavian
Published: March 2020

Current Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism (PE), as well as all other Guidelines, summarize and evaluate the already available evidence and consensus “with the aim of assisting health professionals in proposing the best management strategies for an individual patient with a given condition”.

In this review we present the most important new recommendations of the latest ESC Guidelines on the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism.
Mapping Online Journalism in Transition: Exploring an Analytical Model
Authors: Hartley Jannie Møller , Ellersgaard Christoph Houman
Published: March 2020

By operationalising Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital and positions of autonomy and heteronomy, and applying a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to data gathered from a large content analysis, the article explores the relations between online newspapers and their corresponding print or broadcast versions within a constructed Danish “field of news” by graphically presenting the data as maps of the changes in these relations. First, mapping transformations graphically shows that the online newspapers have gained autonomy from their “parent platforms”, but we see that in the same period they have increased their dependence on news agency stories. Furthermore, the mapping demonstrates how the online newspapers differ in terms of news productions strategies and in their relation to their parent platforms, meaning they take up different positions in the field according to their “strength” based on a number of indicators.
Diversity through Dualism: The Balancing Principle as an Organizational Strategy in Culture Departments of Newspapers
Authors: Jaakkola Maarit
Published: March 2020

This article examines the changes in cultural journalism in newspapers with regard to its dual field structure. The influence of media organizations’ policies on professionalist dualism is discussed based on the results of a quantitative content analysis over the period 1978–2008 and semi-structured theme interviews with the heads of the culture departments of major Finnish dailies. The results indicate that culture departments have developed their own news production, with increased managerial control and the strengthening of the journalistic paradigm, whereas opinionated journalism, including criticism, is increasingly outsourced. The culture departments thus aspire to sustain a balance between the professional paradigms related to field-hybridity, which creates a distinct structural formalism in this specialized type of journalism and makes its evolution over time relatively stable.
Innovation of New Revenue Streams in Digital Media: Journalism as Customer Relationship
Authors: Barland Jens
Published: March 2020

Recent digital transformations of the media landscape have altered media economics. Media outlets are experiencing a decline in newspaper circulation and are struggling to develop new revenue streams within digital media. Newspaper publishers are accustomed to a two-sided revenue model geared towards readers and advertisers. In digital publishing, such two-sided revenue models must be further developed. This article describes a model in which journalistic content functions as an engine for digital traffic, and how that market position is used to promote other commercial digital services. Unlike earlier advertising models, the media company itself has become both the advertiser and the owner of the promoted services. This article’s contribution is a description of how new revenue streams are being developed around digital journalistic products. A case study of the Schibsted Media Group, including examples from the media outlets VG (Norway) and Aftonbladet (Sweden), is used here as the empirical source.
Audience Participation in the Production of Online News: Towards a Typology
Authors: Kammer Aske
Published: March 2020

The potential of audience participation constitutes a most important characteristic of digital journalism. This article presents an inductive study of audience participation in the production of online news in a Danish context, analysing how audiences participate, and what relationships between journalists and audiences accompany this participation. The article discusses the concept of participation, arguing on the basis of sociological theory that it should be understood as those instances where the audience influences the content of the news through their intentional actions. Applying this definition, it proposes four ideal types of audience participation in the production of online news, namely sharing of information, collaboration, conversation and meta-communication.
The Shift from High to Liquid Ideals: Making Sense of Journalism and Its Change through a Multidimensional Model
Authors: Koljonen Kari
Published: March 2020

By reading qualitative studies, surveys, organisational histories, and textbooks, one can claim that the ethos of journalists has undergone fundamental changes in recent decades. The “high modern” journalistic ethos of the 1970s and 1980s was committed to the core values of the journalistic profession: objectivity, public service, consensus maintenance, gate-keeping, and recording of the recent past. After the millennium, these central ideals have become more ambivalent and “liquid”: subjectivity, consumer service, the watchdog role, agenda-setting, and forecasting the future seem to be more tempting alternatives than before. This article develops an analytic framework that elaborates the simple narrative from “high modern” to “liquid modern” journalism. Five key elements, namely, (1) knowledge, (2) audience, (3) power, (4) time, and (5) ethics, are discussed and problematized to suggest a more nuanced view of the changing professional ethos of journalism.
Journalistic Autonomy: Between Structure, Agency and Institution
Authors: Sjøvaag Helle
Published: March 2020

This article investigates the concept of autonomy within the journalistic institution. A review of the literature reveals that journalist autonomy is restricted at the political, economic and organisational levels of news production, negotiated at the editorial level, and exercised at the level of practice. The article addresses the limits of professional autonomy, aiming for a wider contextualisation of the question to analyse the factors that restrict and enable journalistic autonomy. By investigating journalistic autonomy within the duality of structure, the analysis finds that autonomy is attained when journalists engage in the recursive reproduction of the institution. The level of autonomy enjoyed by journalists therefore remains a fluid concept that is continually adjusted to manage the daily task of reporting the news.
Socializing Journalist Trainees in the Newsroom: On How to Capture the Intangible Parts of the Process1
Authors: Gravengaard Gitte , Rimestad Lene
Published: March 2020

In the present article, we investigate socialization practices in the newsroom. The analyses demonstrate how journalist trainees are socialized into this particular professional culture and community of practice. Theoretically, we combine traditional news ethnography with linguistic anthropology, conversation analysis, and theories of profession in order to investigate and interpret social and cultural (re)production in the routinized practice in the newsroom. The units of analysis are interactions between journalist trainees and their editors concerning ideas for news stories. These interactions play a key role in the socialization process as important loci for learning about the craft because of the constant reinforcement of competent practice which takes place here. Thus, these interactions are important sites for cultural production and reproduction that support the building of professional vision.
Stability in Times of Change: Trends in Newspaper Executives’ Attitudes towards Digital Media
Authors: Krumsvik Arne H.
Published: March 2020

Five biennial surveys from 2005 to 2013 reveal a high degree of stability in Norwegian newspaper executives’ attitudes towards digital media, despite a high turnover in the executive ranks. Editors and managers do not approve fully of their own organizations’ online activities, and they struggle to find a balanced focus between traditional and new activities. However, the rationale for online publishing has become less blurred through the period, and an important shift in the strategic development of user fees is reviled: While it was driven by perceived threats from 2005 to 2011, opportunities for the industry is the strongest predictor in 2013.
Talking Green in the Public Sphere: Press Releases, Corporate Voices and the Environment
Authors: Lischinsky Alon , Sjölander Annika Egan
Published: March 2020

In a climate of growing public concern and monitoring of business’s impact on the environment, corporations and industry groups have developed increasingly sophisticated strategies to manage their environmental reputation and to influence the outcome of environmental debates in the public sphere. In this article, we provide an exploratory overview of how the largest Swedish corporations selectively subsidise environmental news-making by supplying it with promotional materials disguised as journalistic copy. We analyse a year’s worth of public relations output from the largest 15 companies traded in the Stockholm exchange or owned by the Swedish state, in order to shed light on the environmental themes they cover, the techniques they adopt to maximise the likelihood of media coverage and the evidence they provide to support their claims. Our analysis shows that corporate voices make substantial use of environmental and ecological arguments in their strategic communication, but they provide little useful information about the company’s impact and do not usually foster forms of dialogic stakeholder engagement.
Migration between Politics, Journalism and PR: New Conditions for Power, Citizenship and Democracy?
Authors: Palm Göran , Sandström Håkan
Published: March 2020

In this article we present a preliminary theoretical background and some empirical findings concerning a migrating trend between the fields of politics, PR and journalism: one day a political reporter, the next a communication officer; one day a PR consultant, the next a state secretary. To understand contemporary politics one must, we argue, comprehend the convergence between three fields of power holders that together form the realm of politics and communication: elite politicians, elite political reporters and elite communication/PR officers. Together, they form a communication elite that sets the parameters for the public discourse on politics. When politics is produced and constructed in, and through, social networks formed by elite agents from politics, journalism and PR, what does this mean for how democracy is worked out and what does it mean for citizenship in general?
Celebrification, Authenticity, Gossip: The Celebrity Humanitarian
Authors: Jerslev Anne
Published: March 2020

The article discusses the celebrity humanitarian as media construction. Departing from a discussion of celebrification, the article argues that celebrities in public roles outside the field of entertainment are inevitably framed by and structured in accordance with celebrity logic. The article discusses how celebrity humanitarianism is a contested field, which, in order for a particular activity to support the celebrity persona, relies heavily on strategies of authentification. Finally, the article shows how information about a photograph of Angelina Jolie from her trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo in March 2013 is transformed and translated into gossip about the star’s private life when discussed by users on a celebrity site.
The Anyone-Can-Edit Syndrome: Intercreation Stories of Three Featured Articles on Wikipedia
Authors: Mattus Maria
Published: March 2020

The user-generated wiki encyclopedia Wikipedia was launched in January 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Wikipedia has become the world's largest wiki encyclopedia, and behind many of its entries are interesting stories of creation, or rather intercreation, since Wikipedia is produced by a large number of contributors. Using the slogan “the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit” (Wikipedia 2013), Wikipedia invites everyone to participate, but the participants do not necessarily represent all kinds of individuals or interests – there might be an imbalance affecting the content as well as the perspective conveyed. As a phenomenon Wikipedia is quite complex, and can be studied from many different angels, for instance through the articles’ history and the edits to them.

This paper is based on a study of Featured Articles from the Swedish Wikipedia. Three articles, Fri vilja [Free will], Fjäll [Fell], and Edgar Allan Poe, are chosen from a list of Featured Articles that belongs to the subject field culture. The articles’ development has been followed from their very first versions in 2003/2004 to edits made at the end of 2012.

The aim is to examine the creation, or intercreation, processes of the articles, and the collaborative production. The data come from non-article material such as revision history pages, article material, and some complementary statistics. Principally the study has a qualitative approach, but with some quantitative elements.
Talking Tacitly: Activities and Experiences in Higly Interactive Media
Authors: Nørgård Rikke Toft
Published: March 2020

Some media forms we primarily take in with our senses, like movies, music or text. Other media forms are more like activities that we have to carry out with our body such as digital games on the PC, console, smart phone or tablet. Here, we are not allowed to sit still and take media in with our senses. In order to grasp this otherness and uniqueness of digital games it is not sufficient to re-use adapted media theories, concepts, methods and ways of writing. This article is written on the realization that the theories and methods we approach a research area, activity or experience with will set the boundaries of our understanding. And the ways we represent our understanding in writing to others will subsequently set the boundaries of their understanding. In this way, the article is an attempt of erecting boundaries in new ways and placing them in unfamiliar places through the use of alternative and alien methods, theories and styles of writing. This is done in order to let new formations of studying, thinking and talking about activities and experiences in highly interactive media emerge.
Worlds at Play: Space and Player Experience in Fantasy Computer Games
Authors: Toft-Nielsen Claus
Published: March 2020

The relationship between the fantasy genre and the medium of computer games has always been a very tight-knit one. The present article explores the close connection between fantasy and computer games through different media, arguing that the fantasy genre's specific ‘mode of function’ is the ability to build complete fictional worlds, whereby it creates specific experiences for its users. Based on empirical data from focus group interviews with players of the most popular Western Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) of all times, World of Warcraft, the article develops the concept of worldness as an experiential, phenomenological understanding of player experience. I discuss how this way of framing a core quality of the fantasy genre (of world-building) functions across single fictional universes and aims to grasp a specific fantasy experience of being in the world. This experience works on the level of genre, by anchoring the specific fantasy world in the larger, surrounding fantasy genre matrix.
Surrounded by Ear Candy?: The Use of Surround Sound in Oscar-nominated Movies 2000–2012
Authors: Høier Svein
Published: March 2020

This article looks at surround sound in contemporary cinema, with the aim of discussing practices of sound design and, more particularly, pinpointing a ‘best practice’ of surround sound today – focusing here on the practices in the US. The empirical starting point for the analysis is a study of ten Oscar-nominated movies, analysing their soundtracks and especially comparing their stereo and surround versions. The method can be described as a ‘directional’ listening mode, analysing how the different channels and speakers are used when presenting sonic elements like voices, music, atmospheres and sound effects.
Rigor or rhetoric: philosopher and public in dialogue
Authors: Burks Deven
Published: March 2020

Leiter (2016) charges public philosophy with being “neoliberal”. To understand that charge better, I define, in §1, three versions of public philosophy which might be concerned and two pictures of its practice targeted by Leiter. I also compare two deliberative sites wherein those pictures may play out. In §2, I sketch how Leiter’s two paradoxes for “neoliberal” public philosophy lead to a revised public philosophy. §3 questions the paradoxes’ empirical grounding and scope. Lastly, in §4, I assume Leiter’s picture and illustrate how philosophical dialogue, through appeal to personal self-image and “moral perceptions”, may still influence public discourse. I conclude that Leiter both over- and understates his case and that his conclusions require greater scrutiny.
The back and forth between Habermas and postmodernism
Authors: Brignoli Francesco Rizzi
Published: March 2020

This paper aims to investigate the dialogue between some postmodern thinkers (mostly Lyotard, Rorty and Vattimo) and Habermas’ criticism in light of a different conception of dialogue itself. Therefore, we shall first give an account of how Habermas establishes his neomodern discourse (1985) in a very close dialogue with the key concepts of postmodernism: the subject and its social role, language and the concept of philosophical truth and the postmodernist view of history (Lyotard, 1979,
Vattimo, 1974, 1985, 2009; Rorty, 1989; Bauman, 1993). Secondly, dialogue will be addressed as a structural difference between Habermas’ universal normative ethic of discourse (together with Karl-Otto Apel, 1983) and the postmodern local and linguistic pluralism, emancipated from any metaphysical ratio. In the end, it will be argued that philosophy ought to be dialogical in line with Habermas’ view, within the foundation and normativity of dialogue. Postmodernist dialogue in philosophy and in society displays instead many shortcomings if understood as a pluralist linguistic game of interpretation.
The End of Oil and Its Impact on National and Collective Security
Authors: Cîrdei Ionuţ Alin
Published: March 2020

Today’s society is heavily dependent on fossil energy resources and especially on oil, which is the basis of the entire transport system and beyond. The need for energy resources will increase with the passage of time, in the context in which the population of the world grows, and the fulfillment of its basic needs implies an increasing consumption of energy. The fossil energy resources are in finite quantity, and their depletion is a matter of time, even if the moment when they will disappear is quite remote, due to the discovery of new deposits, the improvement of extraction technologies, etc. The depletion of fossil energy resources can be a major challenge for all states that will have to take measures for a smooth transition to the use of new energy sources that are supposed to cover the needs of society and at the same time to have a small impact on the environment, in an attempt to reduce the pace of climate change.
Challenges and Opportunities of the Network-Centric Warfare on the National Defense System of Romania
Authors: Neag Mihai-Marcel , Mogoş George
Published: March 2020

The article discusses the network-centric warfare, presenting it as a new concept designed for fighting future wars and all types of conflicts with a predominance of technology as opposed to the traditional personnel, logistics and tactics elements matrix. It is, indeed, worthy of further investigation, research and development, and testing because its technical potential is very promising and novel. The basic premise of this type of warfare is, in our opinion, that it is a totally new and evolved way of conducting a vast area of military operations and that the practices of the past are somewhat irrelevant and inefficient. Network-Centric Warfare concept represents the third generation of combat development and therefore, the future of warfare in general. The actual combat platform itself represents the first generation; the linking and automation of the individual platforms into a command and control (C2) system constitutes the second generation; the third, network-centric warfare, is catalogued as a system of systems dynamically connected with distributed and dynamic information processing.
English – Its Place and Use as a Medium of Instruction at the Land Forces Academy of Sibiu
Authors: Obilişteanu Georgeta
Published: March 2020

The process of European and international integration has led to an increase of the English language use, turning it into the main means of communication at a global level. Thus, having a good command of the English language has become a necessity for every person, being a student’s first option. It is a priority both for the military personnel and undergraduates. In this context, the curricula of the military higher education have included English as a foreign language (EFL) as a compulsory discipline. In addition to this, it has gained in importance with the introduction of an international semester for the cadets attending the Military Leadership program of study, where all the subjects are taught in English. The main issue in using English as a medium of instruction in the teaching of particular subject matters is that this must be done in a correct manner so that it does not result in failure in the educational process. This paper points to the way English is used in the Land Forces Academy and offers some guidelines for specialists in producing their own teaching materials. Some examples are provided from teaching English for specific purposes, in our case military basic English.
Diving Protection Against Nuclear Contaminants
Authors: Chiripuci Nicușor , Avram Emil , Mocanu Laurențiu
Published: March 2020

The risks of radioactive water contamination are high today and divers can make a decisive contribution to removing these risks. The equipment used and the diving procedures are specific. The specialists of the Research Laboratory, in collaboration with those of the Hyperbaric Laboratory of the Diving Center from Constanta, have contributed to the development of this equipment and the diving procedures in the radioactive contaminated environment.
National Cybersecurity Education: Bridging Defense to Offense
Authors: Dawson Maurice
Published: March 2020

Defense Secretary Robert Gates approved the creation of a unified cyber command under the Obama Administration that was focused on cyber operations. This organization was to oversee the protection of government networks against cyber threats known and unknown. Coupled with growing attacks on national infrastructure, digital theft of intellectual property, and election meddling has the United States government actively working to develop cybersecurity talent. Some of the changes that have come as a result are more specialized degree program accreditation, technical frameworks, and policies to help usher this realization of the need to address the shortage of talent for today’s mission.
Identification of Radioactive Isotopes Using Cholesky-Decomposition of Matrices
Authors: Hanka László
Published: March 2020

The process of identification of radioactive isotopes using gamma ray spectrum produced by scintillation detectors is a fundamental problem in physics. Military applications also require fast and efficient methods, especially in field conditions, for identifying unknown isotopes. The fundamental problem is the relationship between the observed gamma ray spectrum given by the detector and the real spectrum. This problem can be treated as a mathematical problem. The relationship between the real and the observed spectrum can be described by a linear algebraic equation system. In this article an efficient mathematical procedure is proposed to solve this linear system efficiently.
The Impact of a Mass Rapid Transit System on Neighborhood Housing Prices: An Application of Difference-In-Difference and Spatial Econometrics
Authors: Chun-Chang Lee , Chi-Ming Liang , Hui-Chuan Hong
Published: March 2020

This study discusses the impact of the mass rapid transit (MRT) system’s construction and operation on neighborhood housing prices. Estimations were conducted by considering the spatial dependence of housing prices and using a difference-in-difference (DD) method that incorporated the spatial lag model and spatial error model. The empirical results indicated that the coefficient of the interaction variable of the MRT’s range of influence and commencement time of construction was -0.079, reaching the 10% significance level. Hence, when MRT construction began, housing prices in the experimental group decreased by 7.9% as compared to the control group. A possible reason for these findings is that the “dark age” of urban traffic, air pollution, and noise brought about by MRT construction negatively affected housing prices. With regard to MRT operations, the coefficient of the interaction variable of the MRT’s influence range and service commencement time did not reach the level of significance, indicating that housing prices within the MRT’s influence range were not significantly affected when the MRT’s service began. This might be due to the fact that the psychological expectations of the increase in housing prices had already been realized during the planning, announcement, and construction phases.
Diversification of Property Managers’ Fees and their Determinants - The Case of Poland
Authors: Węgrzyn Joanna , Najbar Katarzyna
Published: March 2020

The article aimed to determine (1) what factors affect the rates of property management fees (2) and to examine whether the rates declared by managers can be an essential factor in the segmentation of the property management services market. The research has been divided into two stages. First, the review of the literature allowed us to elaborate a list of factors affecting the rates for property management fees. Then, the research was based on the analysis of the results of questionnaires obtained from property managers. We gathered a sample of 368 responses, which enabled us to use the analysis of variances. This statistical method was utilized to answer the second research question.
An Attempt to Determine the Impact of Energy Intensity on the Market Value of Residential Units on the Example of Selected Buildings in Szczecin
Authors: Foryś Iwona , Putek-Szeląg Ewa , Ziembicka Beata
Published: March 2020

Environmental requirements, constantly increasing energy prices as well as energy consumption by residential units and buildings have become an important factor in the decision-making processes in the real estate market. The preferences of residential unit buyers who recognize the problem of energy intensity and translate it into the transaction price have also been changing. However, amendments to the Act on real estate management and new European standards have imposed an obligation to include the certificates of energy performance of buildings and premises on real estate valuers in the valuation process. In this paper, energy intensity understood as the heating requirements of multi-family residential buildings is the basis for assessing the impact of the proposed variants on the market value of residential units. The paper analyzes the energy intensity of various types of buildings (e.g. in low and high buildings) and its impact on the market value of residential units in a selected housing estate in Szczecin, when the property valuer has access to energy performance certificates of neither the unit under valuation nor the units selected for comparison. The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between the energy intensity and the market value of residential units. The proposed three models of real estate market value: non-classical, multiple regression and average price adjustment taking into account energy intensity, obtain results consistent with the actual transaction price at a satisfactory level. The assessment was made using standard deviation, a coefficient of variation and the average error of forecasts.
Review of Studies on Corrosion of Steel by CO2, Focussed on the Behaviour of API Steel in Geological CO2 Storage Environment
Authors: Moreno Wilmer Emilio García , Ponzi Gabriela Gonçalves Dias , Henrique Ângelo Abel Machado Pereira , Andrade Jairo José de Oliveira
Published: March 2020

The world energy demand has become higher with the growing population, which has translated into an increase in emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. For this reason, CO2 capture and storage has been undertaken to purify the atmosphere. For storing this CO2, it is necessary to have wells to inject it (deeper than 800 m); moreover, these wells need to have stability over time, and one of the stability aspects is the protection of steel against corrosion. Considering this aspect, the most common steels (focussed on American Petroleum Institute [API] steels) that can be used in an injector well were studied. The best performance was obtained using a high alloy content of Cr and Ni. Furthermore, the most important parameter analysed when corrosion is studied is the test time, which was modelled to stabilise the corrosion rates. The experiments were undertaken after a general review of different studies that investigated the corrosion of steel when in contact with CO2 in the vapour phase and under supercritical conditions.
“A philosophical and literary reflection on death and dying”
Authors: Hermeto João Romeiro
Published: March 2020

The concreteness of life presupposes not only death but equally the process of dying. Reflecting these Phenomena – dying and death – is necessary to make the phenomenon of life more comprehensible. Both the individual and the social life need to be confronted with the factualness of cessation. In this respect, every social form, which does not escape itself, cannot one-dimensionally celebrate life without reflecting on death. A self-conscious life-entity must (1) be able to differentiate between living and dying and recognize its own death; (2) make itself known the deviations mechanisms of this process; (3) give thought to suicide and sense its limits; (4) reveal the obstructions that daily-life represents in order to reflect on this process. The reflection of dying and death may not represent something new, it is, however, an ever-vital moment of human life.
The Role of Media in Informing the Public and Public Administration Bodies About Illegal Financial Pyramids
Authors: Zarzycka-Bienias Renata
Published: March 2020

Nowadays the media and investigative journalists take full responsibility for revealing and re-porting many irregularities and notifying them to the public via common media. This is very import-ant because the financial losses of investors due to the bankruptcies of the pyramids are significant.This weakens the public confidence in public administration responsible for law in the state. Theauthors of this article mainly say about responsible unmasking of illegal financial pyramids throughthe media in the context of social communication. The article provides clear recommendations forthe media how to distinguish between a pyramid scheme and MLM. Such recommendations couldincrease the practical significance of the author’s research for the readers and protect them fromillegal investments