Ethical and bioethical implications of contemporary women gymnastics

Author in this paper refers to ethical and bioethical issues and implications characteristic within female elite gymnastics. Female gymnastics is not the only sport, whose ethics can be called into question, but it is specific, because the female elite gymnasts are mostly under aged girls, and they are faced with both, demanding sport and pressure from parents and coaches. Contemporary athletes are often called modern gladiators. Acute injuries, chronic diseases and various psychosomatic disorders are challenges that female gymnasts are faced with regularly. Fundamental question is how did gymnastics, whose main goal was improvement of human organism condition, became a sport whose hazards exceed its benefits, at least at elite level of this sport. Author presents these hazards, associating them with main ethical theories and principles, bringing to the question the responsibility of parents and coaches, and potential lack of ethics within elite gymnastics

Concept of urban village: the application of the concept as a foundation for new typology of urban villages

Whole 20th century was marked with many new movements (“-isms”) in urbanism and architecture. Some of them, such as modernism and post-modernism, were especially important and influential. But, current situation is a bit different; there is no prevalent movement or concept. Many actual theories and concepts are the “mixes” of previous movements, so they can be described as “hybrid” ones. One of these hybrid concepts is the concept of urban village. The “hybridity” of the concept is visible in its name, which looks confusing at glance. But, the meaning of the concept is clear; it should be understood as a construct of sustainable community based on mixture of advantages from urban and rural/suburban life. The definition and main principles of the concept of urban village have been quite general, which has led to its wide application. Consequently, there are a bulk of new or renewed neighbourhoods and communities named as “urban villages” all over the World today. They often have various or even opponent characteristics. Thus, this gap between theoretical fundaments and application “in situ” has made the whole idea doubtful and unstable. This research tries to clarify this gap by the way of possible typology of urban villages. This proposition will be checked through theoretical explanation and the analysis of two different cases of urban villages. The research should present the stability of proposed typology hereof. Finally, whole research will accent the complexity of the concept of urban village in global context

Optimal design for plates and relaxation

The optimal design problem for a plate of variable thickness assuming the Kirchhoff model for pure bending of symmetric plates is studied. It is well known that this problem has no solution. The relaxation procedure is thus necessary, leading naturally to homogenisation. Following the ideas of Tartar, a new procedure is proposed, giving the known result of Munoz and Pedregal. Some applications of the proposed method for more general materials are presented

Optimal design and hyperbolic problems

Quite often practical problems of optimal design have no solution. This situation can be alleviated by relaxation, where one needs generalised materials which can mathematically be defined by using the theory of homogenisation. First mathematical results in this direction for general (nonperiodic) materials were obtained by Murat and Tartar. We present some results in optimal design where the equation of state is hyperbolic. The control function is related to the response of vibrating material under the given external force. As the problem under consideration has no solution, we consider its relaxation to H-closure of the original set of controls

Tendencies in newly-built multi-family housing in Serbia : outlook of urban experts

Post-socialist period have brought the myriad of new socio-economic changes for states in Central and Eastern Europe. Knowing that all such changes mirror in space and settlements, they have also made an unavoidable impact on housing as the most prominent urban function. In the case of Serbia, these post-socialist changes in housing have been more severe due to postponed and more complex transition. On the other side, the uncommon model of qualitative socialist housing in the former socialist Yugoslavia has left a positive legacy to present-day situation. Hence, Serbian post-socialist housing has some unique features comparing to other post-socialist countries. This uniqueness is reflected in Serbian reality. A good illustration is a newly-built, “transitional” multi-storey collective housing as dominant type in local typology. However, the data relating to these unique characteristics are rare and insufficiently accurate. The aim of this paper is to improve the research of the urban dimension in newly-built collective housing in Serbia from the point of the planning of housing in new urban plans for Serbian cities. This will be researched by analyzing the professional knowledge and experience of local urban experts. Therefore, the method......... expected that the results of the survey will enlighten some mutual issues in Serbian housing and related urban policy which can be better customised and adequately addressed to enable synergy in the future development

Graph spaces of first-order linear partial differential operators

Symmetric positive systems of first-order linear partial differential equations were introduced by K.O. Friedrichs (1958) in order to treat the equations that change their type, like the equations modelling the transonic fluid flow. Recently, some progress in their understanding has been made by rewriting them in terms of Hilbert spaces, characterising the admisible boundary conditions by intrinsic geometric conditions in the graph spaces. In this paper we streamline the available proofs of the properties of graph spaces (most completely presented by M. Jensen (2004)), providing some additional results in the process; thus paving the way for further study of Friedrichs\u27 systems

Evidence of the »Memory« Effect of Amorphous Aluminosilicate Gel Precursors by Simulation of Zeolite Crystallization Processes Using the Population Balance Method

There is abundant experimental evidence that most, or even all zeolite nuclei are formed in the aluminosilicate gel and/or gel/liquid interface by a linking of specific subunits during gel precipitation and/or ageing. Since the nuclei (particles of quasicrystalline phase) cannot grow inside the gel matrix, they start to grow after being »released« from the gel dissolved during the crystallization, i.e. when they are in full contact with the liquid phase (autocatalytic nucleation). Based on these findings it was assumed that the rate of autocatalytic nucleation depends on the rate of gel dissolution as well as on the number and distribution of nuclei in the gel matrix, but that crystal size distribution in the crystalline end product depends exclusively on the number and distribution of nuclei in the gel matrix and not on the crystallization conditions, or even on the treatment of aluminosilicate gel precursor prior to crystallization. This so called »memory« effect of amorphous aluminosilicate precursors was evidenced by simulation of zeolite crystallization under different conditions, using the population balance method

Spatial patterns of serbian migrants in Vienna and in the settlements of their origin in Eastern Serbia

At this moment, the question of immigration became a pan-European issue and it overlaps with other emotional matters such as ethnicity and identity. As a consequence of an increasing globalization, international migrants are targeting primarily larger cities as they provide more opportunities and support networks which are so crucial to newcomers. In the same time, such an immense emigration is significantly influencing development of communities and their places of origin. Vienna has a long tradition of multicultural population, where immigrants from Serbia the largest minority group in the city. Researching Serbian immigrants in Vienna can be used as a reference point in establishing specific characteristics of the group and determine the scope of the idea of „Balkanization” as an urban pattern. The proximity and accessibility of Vienna to homeland is also an important factor for vivid reciprocal influences. Majority of Viennese Serbs is spending holyday time in settlements of their origin. They are also bringing new-acquired habits in this environment, transforming old spatial patterns. This process is especially observable in the case of Eastern Serbia, as a part of country with the highest level of emigration. Thus, specific spatial patterns are recognizable in both cases - as well in Vienna as in Eastern Serbia. The aim of this paper is to present these “mixed” patterns. Finally, the contribution of the paper is to open academic and scientific debate about spatial patterns of migrants’ life in these complex spaces that they can be used as a role-model for further research of spatial patterns of “migrant culture”

Environmentally-Friendly Planning for Urban Shrinkage

Urban shrinkage has become a widespread phenomenon in contemporary urbanisation. Shrinking cities present multiple shrinkage-connected problems, where the most acute ones are demographic and social decline caused by bad economic performance. These problems are usually mirrored in urban space and thereby matters for urban planning, which, predictably, proposes mainly economic- and demographic-based models and solutions for shrinking cities. The other factors, such as environmental issues, are not well-established both in relevant theory and practice. Generally, environmental issues play a minor role for shrinking cities. However, they can be the factors to cause or to display the consequences of urban shrinkage, but they can also contribute to overcome related challenges. Therefore, environmental issues are unavoidable in any future agenda or policy in urban planning towards shrinking cities. The first step in the process of linking these two scientific fields – the concept of shrinking cities and environmental science – is certainly to check which environmental issues are relevant for the phenomenon of urban shrinkage. This is the main purpose of this research. It aims to collect and systematise the current knowledge about these links. The findings of this investigation bring new interrelations for the multi-face character of the concept of shrinking cities. Therefore, this research presents a new input how to strengthen currently weak links between the concept and shrinking cities and environmental studies, to facilitate a more adaptive planning for urban shrinkage

The possibilities of the application of the concept of healthy city in illegal settlements in Serbia

The importance of healthy life has become important issue in cotemporary settlements in last decades. Thereby the meaning of “health” has been transformed from strictly sectorial view to a wider interpretation, being used in the context of local community and city development. This broader prospect has resulted in the creation of healthy city concept as a recognisable theoretical concept, based on the striving for healthy environment and good quality of life. Globally, communities face pressing health challenges related to the built environment, so the awareness about the need to make the link between human health and development has grown, as well as the urge of establishing the concept for a healthy city. While the framework and general goals are being recognised internationally, the local adjustments and characteristics, related to the national and regional context, have not yet been made. Further, special challenge is how to approach to less developed communities and areas in developing countries in transition, such as Serbia. Even bigger challenge is to examine and test the possibilities of the application of the healthy city concept for the illegal settlements in Serbia. In such settlements, which lack basic infrastructure, amenities and services, the need for improving the quality of life is even bigger. This paper aims to contribute to the advance of practice and policy for healthy places and cities, by defining a local sensitive approach for the informal areas in Serbia