Outer space and private companies : consequences for global security

The paper focuses on sectors, methods, and spheres of the space activity of pri - vate companies, to provide empirical analysis of space applications and implica - tions for global security. Special emphasis has been given to private companies offering access to satellite imagery and satellite remote sensing, as well as compa - nies entering outer space with new and prospective capabilities as space mining. The article explains the rising importance of geo-intelligence, space surveillance and telecommunication for global security and new kind of security challenges and vulnerabilities such as environmental problems in outer space or techno - logical challenges to security. The author argues that profit-oriented companies play crucial role in new security environment in the US, efficiently changing the law and practice. Finally he points out that new and growing market for subcon - tractors in space applications raises questions on growing dependence on private resources in traditional sphere of state activity, namely security, in this case pro - vided from and through the outer space

Pragmatics and eclecticism in international relations

W artykule przeprowadzono analizę nowego podejścia metodologicznego w badaniu stosunków międzynarodowych, jakim jest eklektyzm analityczny. Omawiana metoda stanowi próbę wyjścia z impasu w badaniach rzeczywistości międzynarodowej, jaki zaistniał w wyniku sporu toczonego przez zwolenników najważniejszych paradygmatów. U jej podstaw leży odrzucenie, traktowanego jako z zasady błędnego, założenia o możliwości uzyskania pełnej i weryfikowalnej wiedzy o badanym zjawisku, jeśli prowadzi się badania, odwołując się tylko do jednego paradygmatu. Drugi postulat eklektyzmu analitycznego dotyczy sposobu generowania i gromadzenia użytecznej wiedzy, służącej do rozwiązywania rzeczywistych problemów. W artykule dokonano krytycznej oceny założeń eklektyzmu analitycznego, wskazano na możliwe pułapki i zagrożenia wynikające z nierozważnego stosowania postulatów tego podejścia metodologicznego.This article provides an overview of analytic eclecticism as an alternative method in comparative studies and international relations. It presents methodological aspects of analytic eclecticism and goes on to answer two questions: what is an added value of analytic eclecticism, and what kind of possible pitfalls and problems could occur. This article proceeds in the following manner. First, it briefly reviews the literature regarding pragmatism, methodological pluralism, and analytic eclecticism. Part two discusses theoretical framework of this method, regarding formulated problems (wider in scope) and proposed research strategy adopted in this method. In part three I argue that, despite seemingly easiness to bound all paradigms and approaches, analytic eclecticism requires more than methodological pluralism, and alternative understanding of research. Moreover, this method cannot be adopted by the unskilled scholar, and must be carefully used, to avoid oversights and misleading simplifications

Consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war for the global economy

Agresja Rosji na Ukrainę w lutym 2022 r. oznaczała zmiany w gospodarce światowej związane z koniecznością przebudowania łańcuchów dostaw. Przekształcenia te dotyczą nie tylko gospodarki ukraińskiej, ale także gospodarek państw, dla których dostawy z Ukrainy i Rosji stanowiły element wymiany handlowej. Prognozy dotyczące załamania gospodarki rosyjskiej wskutek sankcji nie przewidują jednak szybkiego zakończenia konfliktu, a czynnik ekonomiczny ma kluczowe znaczenie dla przyszłości Ukrainy.Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in February 2022 meant changes in the global economy related to the need to rebuild supply chains. These changes affect the Ukrainian economy and the economies of countries for which supplies from Ukraine and Russia were part of international trade. However, predictions of a collapse of the Russian economy as a result of the sanctions do not predict a quick end to the conflict, and the economic factor is crucial to Ukraine’s future

Inspection of Reinforced Concrete Structures Using Active Infrared Thermography

Reinforced concrete is currently the most widely used construction material. The wide field of applications forces the usage of the advanced techniques for quality control and tests of these structures. Most frequently it is required, that such tests should be possible to perform after the reinforced concrete hardening, during its usage and without damaging the structure. Therefore, various non-destructive testing techniques are here the natural choice. There are several aspects of possible non-destructive evaluation of reinforced concrete structures. One of them is the detection and assessment of the rebars. The authors propose here selected active thermography techniques. In case of the active thermography, an external energy source has to be used to induce the thermal response of the tested specimen. For concrete structures heating source based on the radiation phenomena (like halogen lamps, flash lamps, infrared radiators and similar) may be not effective due to, usually, large size of the examined structures. Therefore, authors propose two different heating techniques: a microwave heating and an induction heating. The microwave heating has volumetric character and its ratio depends not only on thermal properties of the material, but also on electrical properties. In case of metals (rebars made of a steel) microwave heating is not effective, thus the colder spots observed on the specimens’ surface will indicate presence of the rebars. On the contrary, the induction heating, generates the heat by eddy currents only in the metal objects. The hot spots will indicate the rebars’ positions. In this article authors will present selected experimental results, which will allow to evaluate and compare the proposed two techniques of heating suitability of each one to assess the reinforced concrete by using the active thermography will be discussed

Epidemiology of forearm fractures in the population of children and adolescents current data from Podlaskie voivodeship, Poland

Background: Bone fractures in children and adolescents are one of the most common reasons of the orthopedic visits in Poland. Therefore, they are an essential economical and clinical problem in that population. The most frequent is forearm fracture which comprises more than 1/3 of occurring all fractures. In this work we would like to evaluate the epidemiology of these musculoskeletal injuries in group of young people (aged 0 to 18) in Bialystok and entire Podlaskie voivodeship, focusing specifically on the anatomical location of forearm. Methods: The study included population of children and adolescents at the age of 0 to 18 years old from Bialystok city and the entire Podlaskie voivodeship, based on medical records from Paediatric Clinical Hospital in Białystok. This work included period from 1st February 2016 to 31st November 2018. The analysis of the incidence we based on 7 groups of anatomical location of fracture of forearm. Results: The work recorded 1.806 new cases of isolated fractures of the forearm in patients up to the age of 18 years. The frequency of occurrence was 0,76/1000/year in general population and 4,38/1000/year in pre-working age population. Higher frequency of fractures has been observed among boys 63,1% whereas in girls only 36,9%. The average age of a child with forearm fracture was 9,74 y.o. The proportions of fractures depending on seasonality showed that the largest number of fractures occurred in the summer (39,9%) and successively: autumn (26,87%), spring (21,88%), winter (11,37%). The most common anatomical location of forearm fracture was the distal radius metaphysis which constituted 47,34% of all fractures and the rarest was isolated fracture of the ulna shaft (1,33%). Conclusions: Authors usuly focus in their work exclusively on the fractures of the distal epiphysis of the forearm. We have evaluated all the fractures of the forearm. In the the published data, there are no clearly documented reasons or etiopathogenetic conections with bone fragility in the first two decades of life. Further studies are needed to determine the exact causes and possibilities of their elimination or reduction as well as the minimization of consequences

Outer space and private companies : consequences for global security

This chapter focuses on sectors, methods, and spheres of the space activity of private companies to provide empirical analysis of space applications and implications for global security.* Special emphasis has been given to the private companies offering access to satellite imagery and satellite remote sensing, as well as companies entering outer space with new and prospective capabilities such as space mining. The chapter explains the rising importance of geo-intelligence, space surveillance, and telecommunication for global security and new kinds of security challenges and vulnerabilities such as environmental problems in outer space or technological challenges to security. The author argues that profit-oriented companies play a crucial role in the new security environment in the US, effectively changing both law and practice. Finally, the new and growing market for subcontractors in space applications raises questions about the growing dependence on private resources in a traditional sphere of state activity, namely security, in this case provided from and through outer space

Global regonalism in the contemporary world order

Globalny regionalizm jest jedną najnowszych form zarządzania ładem i bezpieczeństwem globalnym oraz zjawiskami zachodzącymi w skali globalnej, zaadaptowanymi przez wielkie potęgi w realizacji interesów geostrategicznych. W pracy zawarte zostały rozważania odnośnie do legitymacji rozwiązań regionalnych realizowanych w wymiarze globalnym, ze wskazaniem na te koncepcje regionalizmów, których głównym celem jest wzrost szeroko rozumianego bezpieczeństwa. Zanalizowane zostały także scenariusze przyszłości regionalizmów globalnych ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem podmiotów pozapaństwowych i subnarodowych, także w kontekście rozwoju regionalnych porozumień ekonomicznych