Religions as Loci of Conflict Prevention: Local Capacities of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Religious Communities

Conflict and coexistence remain in a tense balance in the Western Balkans. Latent conflict, in which one’s ethno-religious community denotes which side you are on, persist after the violent breakup of Yugoslavia. These frozen and potential lines of conflict were laid decades and centuries ago, when religious affiliation diversified. At the same time, these religious, ethnic and national communities have a history of suživot: everyday relations with one another, or coexistence. The close geographic proximity of communities makes functional relational systems, which determine when, where and how people tend to interact, a practical necessity.212 As a result of this necessity to coexist, religions in the Western Balkans usually perceive ‘decent’, neighbourly behaviour and friendly relations with ethno-religious others as a sign of faith (Funk Deckard 2012, Funk 2013). Both conflict and coexistence signal relationship; as the peace scholar-practitioner John Paul Lederach puts it, ‘relationship is the basis of both the conflict and its long-term solution’ (1997, 26). In the post-war setting of Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, relationship with one’s former opponents is generally unwanted and even avoided. Ethnic cleansing in wartime successfully segregated Bosnia and Herzegovina’s ethno-religious communities in terms of geography and the violent methods produced emotional segregation. Social segregation, however, fails to engage the basic fact of relatedness within the state structure, not to mention a shared history and future. This choice to not relate may seek to avoid conflict, but it can also limit opportunities for change. Notably, the country is currently stuck in polarised, nationally oriented politics, hindering necessary reforms. Citizens and external observers commonly see these stalled reforms and oppositional politics as a major obstacle to the country’s development and the well-being of all its people

Indigenous Community

Postcard from Linnaea Funk, during the Linfield College Semester Abroad Program at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuado

Person to Person in Ecuador

While still in the midst of their study abroad experiences, students at Linfield College write reflective essays. Their essays address issues of cultural similarity and difference, compare lifestyles, mores, norms, and habits between their host countries and home, and examine changes in perceptions about their host countries and the United States. In this essay, Linnaea Funk describes her observations during her study abroad program at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador

Enantioselective Synthesis of 5-epi-Citreoviral Using Ruthenium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Ring-Closing Metathesis

Chiral ruthenium olefin metathesis catalysts can perform asymmetric ring-closing reactions in ≥90% ee with low catalyst loadings. To illustrate the practicality of these reactions and the products they form, an enantioselective total synthesis of 5-epi-citreoviral was completed by using an asymmetric ring-closing olefin metathesis reaction as a key step early in the synthesis. All of the stereocenters in the final compound were set by using the chiral center generated by asymmetric olefin metathesis

Tridiagonal pairs and the q-tetrahedron algebra

In this paper we further develop the connection between tridiagonal pairs and the q-tetrahedron algebra $\boxtimes_q$. Let V denote a finite dimensional vector space over an algebraically closed field and let A, A^* denote a tridiagonal pair on V. For $0 \leq i \leq d$ let $\theta_i$ (resp. $\theta^*_i$) denote a standard ordering of the eigenvalues of A (resp. A^*). Fix a nonzero scalar q which is not a root of unity. T. Ito and P. Terwilliger have shown that when $\theta_i = q^{2i-d}$ and $\theta^*_i = q^{d-2i}$ there exists an irreducible $\boxtimes_q$-module structure on V such that the $\boxtimes_q$ generators x_{01}, x_{23} act as A, A^* respectively. In this paper we examine the case in which there exists a nonzero scalar c in K such that $\theta_i = q^{2i-d}$ and $\theta^*_i = q^{2i-d} + c q^{d-2i}$. In this case we associate to A,A^* a polynomial P and prove the following equivalence. The following are equivalent: (i) There exists a $\boxtimes_q$-module structure on V such that x_{01} acts as A and x_{30} + cx_{23} acts as A^*, where x_{01}, x_{30}, x_{23} are standard generators for $\boxtimes_q$. (ii) P(q^{2d-2} (q-q^{-1})^{-2}) \neq 0. Suppose (i),(ii) hold. Then the $\boxtimes_q$-module structure on V is unique and irreducible.Comment: 30 pages, bibliography added (references were missing in first version), published in Linear Algebra and its Application

Optical probing of supersonic flows with statistical correlation

Remote sensing tool reliably measures statistical properties of supersonic turbulence. Tool neither affects nor is adversely affected by flow field. Device determines characteristics of supersonic flow with optical system and provides method and apparatus for separating translational and rotational motions of turbulent structures in supersonic flow

O-rings with mylar back-up provide high- pressure cryogenic seal

Mylar lip type back-up ring installed in combination with three rubber O-rings seal the junctions between a tube stub and an adapter during high pressure gas flow at cryogenic to room temperatures. Mylar seals should not be used with oxygen under pressure or in the liquid state