The Caliphate Congresses and the Ottoman Sultans

In the aftermath of the First World War, with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent removal of the caliphate in 1924, pan-Islamists shifted their focus to Cairo and Mecca rather than Jerusalem as potential sites for a revived caliphate. In this historical context, several meetings were convened to discuss the future of Islam. Notably, none of them produced a consensus or resolved the contentious issue of the caliphate. This chapter revisits the contentious theoretical debates surrounding political and diplomatic efforts related to the caliphate question. It centres primarily on the 1926 Cairo Congress, the only assembly that overtly addressed the caliphate issue. Additionally, this article seeks to delineate the roles played by the last Ottoman claimants to the title, specifically the dethroned Mehmed VI Vahideddin (1861–1926), who reigned from 1918 to 1922 as both Ottoman sultan and caliph, and his cousin Abdülmecid Efendi (1868–1944), who held the position of caliph from 1922 to 1924, marking the conclusion of the Ottoman dynasty’s caliphate legacy

L’Impero ottomano alla Conferenza di Berlino (1884-85): imperialismo e anti imperialismo all’epoca di Abdülhamid II

The Ottoman empire, a member of the Concert of Europe, was not the victim of European imperialism in the late nineteenth century, but consciously tried to adapt its governance structures to the context of interimperial rivalry, showing itself as an imperialist and expansionist state. The Ottoman agreement to the terms of the General Act of Berlin was a tool both to resist imperialist pressure and assert itself as also legally entitled to colonies in Africa well beyond Sahara. In this concern, istrumentalizing international law was a particularly daring move for the empire

Novel homogeneous selective electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction: an electrochemical and computational study of cyclopentadienyl-phenylendiamino-cobalt complexes

Four cyclopentadienyl-phenylendiamino-cobalt complexes [CoCp(bqdi)] with different substituents (R) at the phenylene moiety (bqdi, I; o-perfluoro-bqdi, II; p-NO2-bqdi, III; p-COOH-bqdi, IV) have been studied with an aim to investigate their capability as catalysts for the CO2 reduction. These compounds were characterized by cyclic voltammetry measurements both under nitrogen and CO2 atmospheres, showing an increase in the cathodic current ranging from 3.36 (III) to 5.59 times (II) that of the measurement under nitrogen. Moreover, with the addition of water, the current enhancement in the presence of CO2 reaches 31.07 times that of the case of complex II. Interestingly, these complexes exhibit very good selectivity toward CO2 reduction irrespective of hydrogen even in the presence of water. The relative turnover frequencies were also estimated, given the values ranging from 3.23 (III) to 187.21 s−1 (II) in the presence of water. In addition, these results were analysed by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations and Fukui functions analysis. In particular, DFT results clearly show effects of different substituents on the electrochemical properties of these compounds. Whereas, the Fukui functions analysis indicates that the most favourable positions for an electrophilic attack on the reduced complex are the nitrogen and cobalt atoms

Sulphur vs NH Group: Effects on the CO2 Electroreduction Capability of Phenylenediamine-Cp Cobalt Complexes

The cobalt complex (I) with cyclopentadienyl and 2-aminothiophenolate ligands was investigated as a homogeneous catalyst for electrochemical CO2 reduction. By comparing its behavior with an analogous complex with the phenylenediamine (II), the effect of sulfur atom as a substituent has been evaluated. As a result, a positive shift of the reduction potential and the reversibility of the corresponding redox process have been observed, also suggesting a higher stability of the compound with sulfur. Under anhydrous conditions, complex I showed a higher current enhancement in the presence of CO2 (9.41) in comparison with II (4.12). Moreover, the presence of only one -NH group in I explained the difference in the observed increases on the catalytic activity toward CO2 due to the presence of water, with current enhancements of 22.73 and 24.40 for I and II, respectively. DFT calculations confirmed the effect of sulfur on the lowering of the energy of the frontier orbitals of I, highlighted by electrochemical measurements. Furthermore, the condensed Fukui function f - values agreed very well with the current enhancement observed in the absence of water

Ripensare l’imperialismo e l’antimperialismo nello spazio tardo ottomano (1870-1924). Una riflessione preliminare

A metà del ’700 la scena politica internazionale era caratterizzata da almeno tre macroordini regionali, l’Asia orientale, il mondo islamico e la regione europeo-cristiana (Aydın 2019), e da diversi sistemi di rete intercontinentali strettamente interconnessi sul piano diplomatico, commerciale, normativo e conflittuale (Subrahmanyam 2019). Ognuna di queste aree geo-culturali presentava al suo interno diversi regni e imperi in cui l’ordine politico e le relazioni internazionali non erano regolati da princìpi immutabili e fissi, ma si basavano su una certa vivacità degli scambi e delle interazioni. Niente preludeva a quella trasformazione politica del mondo che avrebbe creato, nel giro di un secolo, un nuovo ordine mondiale imperiale eurocentrico altamente integrato, a seguito della spinta determinata dal processo di industrializzazione europeo

Cost‐Effective Conductive Paste for Radiofrequency Devices Using Carbon‐Based Materials

With the increasing demand for compact, lightweight, cost-effective, and high-performance radiofrequency (RF) devices, the development of low-profile antennas becomes crucial. This article presents a study of a novel carbon-cellulose-based paste intended for screen printing RF devices. The investigation specifically explores the application of high-reactivity carbon mixture (HRCM) particles as conductive fillers. The results demonstrate that optimal electrical conductivity values and discrete electromagnetic dipole performances can be achieved at lower concentrations of solid conductive material compared to conventional pastes, for similar applications. This offers benefits in terms of total cost, material consumption, and environmental impact. The paste formulation showcases a complex non-Newtonian behavior, where yielding flow and thixotropicity are found to be independent and dependent on preshear conditions, respectively. This behavior can be attributed to the network orientation and rearrangement of filler structures within the paste system, which in turn are responsible for filler pattern uniformity and overall printing quality. Compared to traditional conductive materials, HRCM pastes are proven to be a viable alternative for RF devices fabrication, including printed Wi-Fi antennas

Synthesis of functionalized tryptamines by Brønsted acid catalysed cascade reactions

An original synthetic protocol has been developed for the preparation of highly functionalized tryptamines from 2-hydroxycyclobutanone and secondary arylamines via a solvent-free Brønsted acid catalysed two-step reaction sequence

Rheology of Conductive High Reactivity Carbonaceous Material (HRCM)-Based Ink Suspensions: Dependence on Concentration and Temperature

The present case study reports a shear rheological characterization in the temperature domain of inks and pastes loaded with conductive High Reactivity Carbonaceous Material (HRCM) consisting mainly of few-layers graphene sheets. The combined effect of filler concentration and applied shear rate is investigated in terms of the shear viscosity response as a function of testing temperature. The non-Newtonian features of shear flow ramps at constant temperature are reported to depend on both the HRCM load and the testing temperature. Moreover, temperature ramps at a constant shear rate reveal a different viscosity-temperature dependence from what is observed in shear flow ramps while maintaining the same filler concentration. An apparent departure from the well-known Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman relationship as a function of the applied shear rate is also reported

Effects of Carasau Dough Composition on the Microwave Dielectric Spectra up to 20 GHz

Carasau bread is a traditional product from Sardinia (IT). This flat bread is experiencing industrial advancement, through automation, and has great market potential. However, there is lack of understanding of how the composition (water content, salt and yeast concentration) affects the product quality. In this work, a microwave dielectric spectroscopy study is performed to investigate how the composition of Carasau bread doughs influences the spectra of this food product up to 20 GHz. A third-order Cole-Cole model was used for the physical and quantitative understanding of the electromagnetic properties of this food product. Then, we it has been studied how salt, yeast, and water variations affected the model parameters. This work could pave the route to the development of non-destructive, contactless microwave sensors for Carasau bread quality assessment