The article examines ideological and institutional role of the “greening” policy in the Soviet urban planning practice of 1920-1930s. Relying on the example of the socialist city of Uralmash in Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk) the author traces how the idea of the “green city” affected the development of the urban settlement in terms of its functional mechanism and symbolic transformation. By analyzing the logic of the Uralmash “green” policy and its main narratives he argues that successful improvement of the post-Soviet green zones depends not so much on the new urban city-planning initiatives as on the new symbols and meanings that could give a clear vision of these spaces in the current social and cultural context.
This paper provides an overview of developments affecting Slovenian social housing after the country’s transition to a market economy. It analyses the Slovenian institutional framework, its functioning and critically evaluates its sustainability. The economic and social impacts of the global financial crisis saw the sector face strong challenges and revealed its weaknesses. A new strategic document was adopted in 2015 to respond to the situation. Although this new document offers a transition to the more sustainable and better provision of social housing in practice, it is still too early for optimism since it would not be the first time in Slovenia that a strategic document has primarily remained only on the declaratory level.
The revival of the UN Security Council’s regulatory powers after the end of the Cold War as well as new challenges to international peace and security have led to the development and diversification of UN operational tools. In the absence of United Nations’ own material capacities to undertake necessary military action, due to the non-conclusion of agreements provided for in Article 43 of the UN Charter by which UN Member States would commit to provide the necessary force and other assistance to the Security Council upon its call, the latter developed other means. Today, there co-exist two mandated operations by the Security Council vested with the power to use force, each however within a different scope, limits and objective: UN-led “Blue Helmets” and UN-authorized military operations. This functional rapprochement causes nevertheless a great confusion, both in practice and recently in the judicial sphere. Hence, the clarification of the legal regime of each is essential. While the UN-led Blue Helmets vested with the limited power to use force represent the new generation of peacekeeping operations, the UN-authorized operations constitute a decentralized execution of the Council’s enforcement measure. In the latter case the Security Council turns to UN Member States or regional organizations and delegates them its exclusive power to use force under Article 42 of the UN Charter to execute it under set conditions. The limitation of the use of force by the UN-led operation to the strict defence of its civilian mandate does not exempt it from the regime of coercion established under Chapter VII of the UN Charter either. This raises a question of the legal status of this UN-led operation and whether possibly such tool approaches the original concept of UN enforcement forces laid down in Article 43. Analysis of the converging and diverging elements of both operations shows the complexity of this operational domain, the clarification of which is proposed in this article via a legal perspective.
The article deals with the regulation of the use of Czech, German and classical languages in the administrative, school and Church spheres as it appears in the decrees published during Joseph II’s reign for the lands of the Bohemian crown. The author attempts to reconstruct the emperor’s vision of the usage of the different languages in the Czech lands, find the reasoning behind it, and identify the methods of this regulation. He also asks whether, in Joseph II’s case, one can speak about a "language policy" as a deliberate strategy to change the language situation in the Czech lands., Dmitrij Timofejev., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Egypt is considered to be one of the few countries in which Arab culture flourished among the Jews, in both the popular and the canonical fields. Some of Jews, such as Yacqūb Ṣanūc (James Sanua) (1839-1912), Togo Mizraḥī (1901-1987), and Laylā Murād (1918-1995), rose to prominence. However, on the whole, Jewish involvement was relatively limited in comparison to Iraq, probably because Arabic had low status among Egyptian Jews. A Jew as “a carbon copy of ibn al-balad” was never a desired option for most of the Egyptian-Jewish writers, artists, and intellectuals. Due to the peculiar demographic structure of Egyptian Jewry, the dreams of its members were much more infused with the spirit of Alexandrian cosmopolitanism, which was the product of a limited period and singular history – that of the crumbling Ottoman Empire.
The 48-hour "Aladin" forecast model can predict significant meteorological quantities in a middle scale area. Neural networks could try to replace some statistical techniques designed to adapt a global meteorological numerical forecast model for local conditions, described with real data surface observations. They succeed commonly a cut above problem solutions with a predefined testing data set, which provides bearing inputs for a trained model. Time-series predictions of the very complex and dynamic weather system are sophisticated and not any time faithful using simple neural network models entered only some few variables of their own next-time step estimations. Predicted values of a global meteorological forecast might instead enter a neural network locally trained model, for refine it. Differential polynomial neural network is a new neural network type developed by the author; it constructs and substitutes for an unknown general sum partial differential equation of a system description, with a total sum of fractional polynomial derivative terms. This type of non-linear regression is based on trained generalized data relations, decomposed into many partial derivative specifications. The characteristics of composite differential equation solutions of this indirect type of a function description can facilitate a much greater variety of model forms than is allowed using standard soft-computing methods. This adjective derivative model type is supposed to be able to solve much more complex problems than is usual using standard neural network techniques.
Cíl studie: Výsledek každé analýzy DNA je do značné míry závislý na typu biologického materiálu použitého pro extrakci nukleových kyselin. Cílem naší studie je porovnat vlastnosti DNA extraktů získaných dvěma různými izolačními postupy z buněk bukální sliznice, močového sedimentu, nehtů, vlasových kořínků a periferních krevních buněk. Materiál a metody: Biologické vzorky byly získány od 24 dobrovolníků s mediánem věku 31 let (25–54 let). Izolace DNA byla provedena fenol-chloroformovou extrakcí a pomocí separačních mikrokolonek (Qiagen). Eluční objem byl v obou případech 50 μl. Extrakty byly charakterizovány spektrofotometricky, fluorimetricky, elektroforeticky a z hlediska účinnosti následné PCR amplifikace. Výsledky: Nejvyšší koncentrace DNA obsahovaly extrakty z buněk periferní krve a bukální sliznice; nejnižší koncentrace DNA byly izolovány z vlasových kořínků. Všechny typy extraktů měly uspokojivou čistotu (mediány v rozmezí 1,7–1,9). Podíl nefragmentované DNA ve vzorcích získaných mikrokolonkovou metodou byl téměř dvojnásobný v porovnání s fenolovou extrakcí. Procentuální zastoupení nefragmentovaných molekul klesal podle biologického zdroje v následující řadě: krev (73,3 %) > bukální sliznice (63,5 %) > močový sediment (31,3 %) > nehty (25,3 %) > vlasy (20,4 %). Amplifikační účinnost u extraktů z periferní krve, bukálního stěru a močového sedimentu byla vyšší než u extraktů z nehtů a vlasů. Závěr: Všechny analyzované extrakty pocházející z krevních buněk, bukální sliznice, močového sedimentu, nehtů a vlasů poskytly dostatek DNA molekul k provedení molekulárně biologických vyšetření. Nejvhodnějšími materiály byly krevní buňky a buňky bukální sliznice. Z nich připravené extrakty měly nejvyšší koncentraci a čistotu DNA bez ohledu na použitou izolační metodu, nejnižší podíl degradované DNA a nejvyšší účinnost amplifikace krátkých i dlouhých amplikonů., Objective: Results of DNA testing depend in many cases on the type of biological material used for extraction of nucleic acids. The aim of the study is to compare properties of DNA extracts prepared using two different isolation procedures from buccal cells, urine sediment, nails, hair roots, and peripheral blood cells. Material and Methods: Biological material was collected from 24 volunteers at median age of 31 years (range 25–54 years). Phenol–chloroform extraction and spin microcolumn extraction method (Qiagen) were used for DNA isolation. In both the procedures, the elution volume was 50 μl. The extracts were characterized optically (UV spectrophotometric and fluorimetric analyses), electrophoretically, and by PCR amplification efficiency. Results: The highest DNA concentrations were found in extracts from peripheral blood and buccal cells; the lowest DNA concentrations were in hair extracts. All types of the extracts had acceptable purity (medians 1.7–1.9). The content of nonfragmented DNA molecules in the microcolumns extracts was almost twofold higher in comparison to the phenol ones. The percentages of non-fragmented DNA decreased as follows: blood (73.3 %) > buccal cells (63.5 %) > urine sediment (31.3 %) > nails (25.3 %) > hair roots (20.4 %). The amplification efficiency in the peripheral blood, buccal swab, and urine extracts was significantly higher than in the nail and hair extracts. Conclusion: All analyzed DNA extracts received from blood, buccal cells, urine sediment, nails, and hair roots provided a sufficient number of integral DNA molecules for following DNA testing. The best quality of DNA was found in extracts from blood and buccal cells (high concentrations and purity, low degree of fragmentation, and high efficiency of amplification for either short or long PCR amplicons)., Beránek M., Hegerová J., Drastíková M., and Literatura 25
In the wake of the national and political conflict in the Middle East, Arab-Jewish culture has undergone a process of marginalization and negligence, as well as a gradual descent into utter oblivion, owing to both Arab-Musim and Hebrew-Jewish-Zionist national and culural systems. Both sides, each with its own form of limited reasoning and particularistic considerations, have refused to accept the legitimacy of Arab-Jewish hybridism highlighting instead "pure" nationally, culturally, and religiously exclusive identities. The article explores the gradual demise of Arab-Jewish cultural hybridism, which, from a historical point of view, coexisted with Arab-Muslim and Arab-Christian hybridisms during some periods. Following a short era in the twentieth century during which Arab-Jewish culture flourished, especially in Egypt and Iraq, we are currently witnessing the demise of that culture. Consequently, Israeli-Arab Jews, or those seen as their offspring, currently have, or will have in the near future, three man cultural options. The first - the revival of active Jewish involvement in Arab canonical culture - is probably impossible. The second option is involvement in popular Israeli culture; this option is characterized by a strong longing for legitimacy - Jewish musicians and singers of Arab origin have accomplished a great deal in this field. The third option is participation in the activities of the canonical Hebrew culture.
The author examines the clientele of the Bratislava booksellers Anton Löwe and Philip Ulrich Mahler in the context of the Hungarian book trade from 1770 to 1800. By analysing the extant correspondence of Michal Institoris Mošovský, a protestant pastor in Bratislava, she was able to partially identify one segment of their customer base - protestant clergymen. For many years these members of the petty intelligentsia purchased from the Bratislava booksellers, in particular imported works by the German pietists and Enlightenment theologians. The author also investigated the social and geographical limits of the distribution process, some of the contact and distribution networks, and the identity of key figures., Petronela Križanová., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
This study examines how South Africans construct and negotiate racial identities in written commentaries via a forum of the Mail@Guardian website Thought Leader in response to a blog by Ndumiso Ngcobo entitled “I’m a coconut and I am proud of it – say it with me.” Ngcobo’s ironic opinion piece, written in 2008, which plays with the label “coconut” (frequently employed in South Africa among “black” people in reference to another “black” person who seemingly behaves “white”), triggered 163 responses from individual readers. An essential point made by Ngcobo is that perceptions and attitudes around “whiteness” and “blackness,” or what can be considered “white” or “black” in racial terms, vary greatly, depending on circumstances and perspective. However, the author’s irreverent and ironic style is misunderstood and misinterpreted by many of the comment writers. Relying partially on the methodological framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, I analyze the commentary texts and interpret the categories people use in their discursive constructions of race and identity by examining their stylistic choices and content markers and focusing on sociolinguistic and cultural issues. It is argued that the analyzed comments are representative not only of the pervasiveness of “rigid” race thinking but also of how intra-racial boundaries are constructed in the post-apartheid state.