The issue of energy security was the subject of research in the 1970s when the oil crisis of 1973 significantly affected the economic stability of hundreds of companies and ordinary citizens in the United States and Western Europe. One of the first researchers of energy security was Mason Willrich who, considering the impact of energy on international politics, national security, the world economy, and the environment in the world, drew attention to the issues of “security of supply” and “security of demand” as fundamental to ensure energy security. The concept of “energy security” involves the comprehensive implementation of political, economic, environmental, technological, and social measures to strengthen the internal subjectivity of the state and limit opportunities for external influence. Subsequently, numerous researchers have expanded the understanding of energy security to environmental sustainability and energy efficiency). The presented scientific work is focused on the analysis of state management decisions for ensuring the energy security of Ukraine. The authors also trace vulnerabilities in various energy systems, including energy infrastructure, energy services, and renewable energy sources. The decline in energy demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine has created a dilemma: state support for renewable energy production (RES), which generates rising producer prices, or reduced energy intensity of GDP and stimulated production of cheap nuclear energy. A comprehensive scientific analysis of the solution to this dilemma is the purpose of the presented work.
We estimated a non-Stationary dynamic factor model and used it to generate artificial episodes of disinflation (permanent changes in the mean inflationrate). These datasets were used to test the forecasting abilities of alternative underlying inflation indicators (i.e. measures that capture sustained movements in inflation extracted from information in a disaggregated set of price data).We found that the out of sample forecast errors of the benchmark underlying inflation measures (based on unobserved trend extraction) are more severely affected by disinflation than the alternative simpler methods (based on exclusionor re-weighting approaches). We also show that a non-stationary dynamic factor model may be employed for the extraction of the unobserved trend to be usedas an underlying inflation measure.
This paper presents a concept of humanoid robot motion generation using the dedicated simplified dynamic model of the robot (Extended Cart-Table model). Humanoid robot gait with equal steps length is considered. Motion pattern is obtained here with use of Preview Control method. Motion trajectories are first obtained in simulations (off-line) and then they are verified on a test-bed. Tests performed using the real robot confirmed the correctness of the method. Robot completed a set of steps without losing its balance.
The heavy metal content is one of the criteria for foundry dust commercial use. To assess the possibility of foundry dust use, it is necessary to analyze its composition, including the content of basic heavy metals, and its mechanical properties. The paper presents the results of research on foundry dust from one of the Polish foundries. The aim of the study was to assess the waste management based on its composition and content of heavy metals. Dust samples were taken from one of the Polish foundries, producing iron and steel castings. Samples were taken from several places in the foundry, i.e. from electric furnace dust collectors, shock grating unit, transport of moulding sands unit, pneumatic blast cabinet units and the regeneration of spent foundry sand units. Samples were taken twice from each place at the turn of 2017–2018. The total content of heavy metals such as Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni, Mn, and Fe for recovery and additionally Hg as environmental pollution was analyzed. Based on the results of the research, it was found that the dust from foundry furnaces and pneumatic cleaners can be used in metallurgy due to a high percentage of iron. It was found that the dust from casting cleaning, transport and regeneration department can be used in the cement or construction industry. In addition, an assessment of the mercury content showed that the re-use of this dust would not cause an environmental hazard. It was found that the profitability of foundry dust use depends on the stability of its composition and requires testing for each batch of dusts.
While most traffic signs in Europe are purely pictorial, some also employ text. The article discusses two-code (image plus text) traffic signs on examples from a few countries: the UK, Germany, the US, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Poland. Special emphasis is placed on various possible sense relations between text and image in such signs. In some of these relations (such as intersemiotic translation or emphasis) the text does not modify the meaning of the image, whereas in others (such as restriction, complementation or elaboration) it does. Drivers who do not know the local language, however, are neither able to understand the text nor to determine its function towards image. Therefore, the text is always prone to affect them negatively.
In late medieval England learned medicine leapt the walls of universities and became available to people with no formal medical training (cf. also Jones 1999, Jones 2004). This widespread interest in medicine was partly triggered by the vernacularisation of medical writings. This process involved, among other things, (1) gradual evolution of conventions and norms for, e.g. recipe writing (cf. Carroll 2004) and/or (2) employment of various strategies to adapt the texts to the new audience.The study will attempt to explain what strategies were employed to adapt medical texts, in particular recipes, to the intended audience, i.e., “who speaks [writes] what language to whom and when” (Fishman 1979: 15). For instance, some recipes contain foreign (mostly French and Latin) or sophisticated terminology whereas other recipe collections make use of vernacular resources. This implies that the language of medieval recipes might be the indicator of a social distinction between the readers. The data for the paper come from the Middle English Medical Texts (MEMT), a computerised collection of medical treatises written between 1330 and 1500.
The present article aims at identifying four types of metonymic mappings: formal, referential, propositional and illocutionary, as described by Bierwiaczonek (2013), in English X-phemisms. The use of X-phemisms in language is strictly connected with the rules of politeness functioning in communication. X-phemisms encompass euphemisms and orthophemisms that are used by language users to avoid dispreferred tabooed words, as well as dysphemisms which assume a deliberate use of a tabooed expression in order to offend, show disapproval or express negative feelings. Although linguists have listed a number of various mechanisms used in the creation of X-phemisms, often including metonymy as one of the rhetorical tools, it will be claimed that metonymy, understood as a conceptual process, may be also identifi ed in other linguistic means applied by English speakers to X-phemism creation.
In this article I discuss the need for more systematic integration of approaches dealing with religious beliefs and practices into the discussion about sources and areas of gender social changes that occur in global migration. Firstly, starting from the discussion about negative representations of religiosity in contemporary debates, I consider from theoretical and methodological perspectives why we should move the religious dimension from the margins more to the centre of analysis. Secondly, basing on an exploratory review of empirical research about intersections of religion and gender in the lives of in-ternational migrants, I discuss findings that reveal about religion as a potential mediator in the gen-dered revolution. I answer how they help to understand the complexities and ambivalences of social changes and identify the areas they concern. I argue that the revolutionary potential that arises at the intersection of migration, gender and religion is not limited to changing gender orders in religious organisations. It is religious beliefs themselves that influence migrants’ everyday lives and challenge the existing gendered contract in lay areas, in work relations, civic and political participation.
The paper presents results of the localization of main noise sources in the industrial plant. Identification of main noise sources was made with an acoustic camera using Beamforming Method. Parallel to the measurements by means of the acoustic camera, sound level measurements on the main noise sources have been performed. Based on the calculations, prediction regarding the noise emission at residential buildings located near to the plant has been determined. Acoustic noise maps have been performed with LEQ Professional software, which includes the 3D geometry of the buildings inside the plant. It has been established that, after introduction of noise reduction measures in the plant, the noise levels at the observation points in the residential area meets the limit values.
Onion yellow dwarf virus (OYDV), an aphid-borne potyvirus is one of the major viral pathogens of garlic causing significant yield losses worldwide. It is found almost everywhere in the world where Allium species is grown. The aim of this study was to test the presence of OYDV infection in garlic from Ethiopia. The presence of the virus was tested by Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The direct sequencing of the PCR product produced a sequence of 296 bp. Sequence analysis showed 89.27% sequence homology with an isolate from Australia (HQ258894) and 89.29% with an isolate from Spain (JX429964). A phylogenetic tree constructed with MEGA 7.0 revealed high levels of homology with various isolates of OYDV from all over the world and thus further confirmed the identity of the virus.