The Impact of the Book on Asymmetric Civilization

International audienceTo what extend books and reading can be included in the project of the “asymmetrical civilization”? The point is, that the book by nature is politically active, because of the fact that along with many other functions the reforming function is inherent to the book. Often it has invisible, but definite role in the personal, public and global projects. In global aspect it turned out that reading will present the overall surprises

Nanoscale Optical Patterning of Amorphous Silicon Carbide for High-Density Data Archiving

The work presented here is related to some developments in providing a new generation ultrastable (>100 years), ultrahigh density (>1 Tbit/sq.in.) data storage materials for archival applications. The chosen material to write nanoscale data by finely focused ion beams is hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) films. Wide bandgap a-SiC:H has been chosen for its appropriate optical, chemical and mechanical properties. Ga+ was prefered as the implant species for the focused ion beam (FIB) implantation due to its widespread uses in FIB equipment and its modifying effects on the amorphous silicon carbide target. A range of a-SiC:H film samples have been FIB patterned under different implantation conditions for this study. The emphasis in these investigations was the influence of different substrate temperatures on the patterning process. The effects of further annealing of room temperature implanted samples were also studied. The FIB patterned samples under different conditions were analysed using near-field techniques, like atomic force microscopy (AFM), to define optimum implantation parameters for archival data storage applications. Using the established optimal conditions for the FIB patterning process of a-SiC:H films, it is expected to achieve the aimed ultrahigh density and stability with this novel data storage method for archival applications

New Approaches To Blood Sugar Monitoring

The treatment of diabetes, like most areas of medicine, has changed significantly over the years as a result of technological advances. From the discovery, purification and mass production of insulin to the development of less painful ways to deliver it to people with diabetes. Although it can be difficult to predict the impact of new technology, there are several interesting trends in how people with diabetes receive medical care or manage their own condition. A relatively new innovation, continuous monitoring of blood sugar, is already changing their daily lives.The aim of the article is to follow the new trends and approaches to blood sugar monitoring in patients with diabetes and the aspects of therapy and quality of life

Specifics of the market of functional foods and food supplements

International processes and general trends in the pharmaceutical sector reflect on changes in the pharmaceutical market and on the user profile.The pharmaceutical industry is in a rapidly changing environment of healthcare reforms and government initiatives aimed at controlling costs. Dynamics are observed both in customers and in the industry as a whole. Some of the current trends that have the greatest impact on the industry are: globalization and consolidation, as well as technology.Due to overestimated health literacy, unequal and limited access to health and pharmaceutical care and services, as well as economic inequality and limitations, people are increasingly resorting to self-medication methods—mainly through over-the-counter drugs (the so-called OTC), food supplements, functional foods, herbal products. This also raises the question of risk management in their use.The aim of this article is to take into account the aspects influencing the market of OTC medicinal products, food supplements, and functional foods

Reading of empty media

English: The research is dedicated to two questions: whether the media bearers without text, the books without letters and the entirely emtpty book could be called books and whether they could be readable. The medialogical analysis is oriented to the creative decisions for transformation of the emptiness or the silence into media, when the emptiness of the media body represents a metamessage about reading without eyes. It is made a systematical survey of a maximum wide spectrum of empty media – empty fine art, empty musical compositions, empty literary works, empty books, empty newspapers, and empty pages. There were discovered 13 reasons about the existence of a total or partial emptiness in media.Bulgarian: Изледването е посветено на два въпроса: дали медийните носители без текст, книгите без букви и напълно празните книги могат да се нарекат книги и могат ли да се четат. Медиологичният анализ е насочен към творческите решения за превръщане на празнотата или мълчанието в медия, когато празнотата на медийното тяло е метапослание за четене без очи. Направен е систематичен обзор на широк спектър от празни медии – празно изобразително изкуство, празни музикални произведения, празни литературни произведения, празни книги, празни вестници, празни страници. Разкрити са 13 причини за съществуването на тотална или частична празнота в медиите

The shadows of reading: Reasons for the bad results of Bulgarians in PISA studies

English: The subject of this article are the factors and reasons for the bad results in reading of the Bulgarian 15-year-old students in PISA's international studies. The reference points of the analysis are the critical results from the last four studies - 2000, 2006, 2009 and 2012. The aim of this analysis is to bring up for discussion unformulated topics and reading angles which have not been covered, which may explain the reason for the critical results in reading, including in the European Union as a whole. The goals of the report are to look for arguments and evidence in communication theory, in the conclusions of sociological studies and to summarize the factors which may lessen the ongoing preoccupation with "mass non-reading" or the "drop in reader's literacy". Eight reasons for the critical state of reading literacy have been drawn: 1) basic illiteracies which stem from the incorrect attitude towards reading as a cultural technology; 2) the stereotype "book = literature"; 3) the stereotype "book = paper"; 4) helplessness of sociological tools; 5) the manipulative side of reading; 6) the harmful side of reading; 7) reading mutations; 8) the erroneous statement "Young people do not read". The scientists are presented with proposals to concentrate on two academic points: "Theory and practice of reading" classes on each educational level and focusing research efforts to improve readership culture of adults, including development of the so called "Acmeology of reading".Russian: Объектом статьи являются факторы и причины плохих результатов в чтении болгарских 15-летних школьниках в международных исследованиях PISA. Начальной точкой анализа являются критические результаты последних четыре исследований - 2000, 2006, 2009 и 2012 г. Цель анализа состоит в том, чтобы поставить на обсуждение темы и незатронутые ракурсы чтения, в которых могут прятаться причины критических результатов грамотности чтения, в том числе всего Европейского Союза. Заданиями статьи являются: поиск аргументов и доказательств в коммуникационной теории, в выводах социологических обследовании, а так же и обобщение факторов, которые могли бы облегчить нескончаемое беспокойство по поводу "массового не чтения" или "коллапса в читательской грамотности". Выявлены восемь причин критического состояния грамотности чтения: 1) Основная неграмотность в результате плохого отношение к чтению, как культурная технология; 2) Клише "книга = литература"; 3) Клише "книга = бумага"; 4) Беспомощность социологических инструментов; 5) манипулятивная сторона чтения; 6) приносящая вреду сторона чтения; 7) мутации чтения; 8) искаженное утверждение "Молодые люди не читают". Формированы предложения к ученым сконцентрироваться на двух академических ракурсах: на обучении "Теория и практика чтения" на каждом уровне образования, и на том, как направить научно-исследовательскую работу на усовершенствование культуры чтения взрослых, в том числе на развитие так называемой "Акмеологии чтения"

Compromise duality between mobile reading and stationary reading: an analysis of culture of the media nomadism

The research is an attempt to answer the question how far the mobility manages to preserve the cognitive and the social status of the reader and to minimize the negatives of the “technological” reading. Object of the research: the new phase in the changes of the reader’s practices that have occurred with the massive use of mobile communication devices. By the notion “mobile reading“ the author mark the perception of text from a portable or from a mobile digital device and with the notion “stationary reading“ – the perception of text from a fixed medium as a print media and as a desktop device. Purpose of the research: to prove that the mobility is the newest, natural and indestructible stage in the evolution of the reading, within the frames of which are passing mixed transformations, inherent as a whole to the „culture of the nomadism”. Methodology: there are used the methods of the analytic and synthetic processing of primary and secondary resources, the selective monographic method, analysis of combination of statistical data and information from a survey of the National Bulgarian Institute of Statistics for access and use of Internet and the results of two world researches – „Reading in the Mobile Era: A study of mobile reading in developing countries” of UNESCO and „Mobiles for Reading: A Landscape Review” of USAID and JBS. Hypothesis: the new format of the mobile reading (counterpoint of stationary reading) is not a random phenomenon, but a regular and cyclical metamorphosis in the evolution of the communications. Results: the analysis shows an approximately equal correlation between the positives and the negatives of the reading from mobile devices. The suggestion of the author is the reader’s behavior of the mobile citizen to be formed in „compromise duality” – the information, the data, the facts, the references can be assigned to „mobile” modalities, but the knowledge, the learning, the aesthetic delight of the text to be preserved in „stationary modality”

The effects of reputation on inequality in network cooperation games

In the last several decades, ample evidence from across evolutionary biology, behavioural economics, and econophysics has solidified our knowledge that reputation can promote cooperation across different contexts and environments. Higher levels of cooperation entail higher final payoffs on average but how are these payoffs distributed among individuals? This study investigates how public and objective reputational information affects payoff inequality in repeated social dilemma interactions in large groups. We consider two aspects of inequality: excessive dispersion of final payoffs and diminished correspondence between final payoff and cooperative behaviour. We use a simple heuristics-based agent model to demonstrate that reputational information does not always increase the dispersion of final payoffs in strategically updated networks, and actually decreases it in randomly rewired networks. More importantly, reputational information almost always improves the correspondence between final payoffs and cooperative behaviour. We analyse empirical data from nine experiments of the repeated Trust, Helping, Prisoner’s Dilemma, and Public Good games in networks of ten or more individuals to provide partial support for the predictions. Our research suggests that reputational information not only improves cooperation but may also reduce inequality