A war they don’t want to end (On the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement)

Almost 70 years ago, on July 27, 1953 the representatives of the warring parties of the DPRK and PRC – the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army (KPA), leader of the DPRK Kim Il Sung and the Commander of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, General (one of the 10 marshals of the PRC) Peng Dehuai, along with the Commander-in-Chief of the UN Command, American General Mark W. Clark, signed the Korean Armistice Agreement. One of the main participants in the war, South Korea, represented by the President Rhee Syngman, refused to sign it, and since then Seoul has not changed its position on this document. The article examines the circumstances of the outbreak of the Korean War of 1950–1953, its causes, nature, results, as well as the reasons why it remains unfinished up to this day. The author draws historical parallels with other similar conflicts and suggests the prospects and possibilities of a legal end to the Korean War

CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES IN ASSESSING THE RESULTS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Спустя 75 лет после окончания Второй мировой войн продолжаются и даже усиливаются попытки искажения ее характера, ревизии правовых последствий, извратить роль СССР в ней, в частности чудовищные по своей глупости и цинизму попытки обвинить его в развязывании войны и происшедших в то время бедах. Активность в этом проявляют часть политиков и историков государств «Five Ears», европейских стран, но и Японии, а также историков РК. В предлагаемой статье автор дает аргументированную критику несостоятельности вышесказанных нападок на СССР/Россию.75 years after the end of the Second World War, attempts to distort its character, revise its legal consequences, and distort the role of the USSR in it continue and even increase, in particular, attempts to accuse it of unleashing the war and the troubles that occurred at that time, which are monstrous in their stupidity and cynicism. Some politicians and historians of the “Five Ears” States, European countries, but also Japan, as well as historians of the Republic of Kazakhstan are active in this. In this article the author gives a reasoned criticism of the failure of the above attacks on the USSR/Russia

Малошумящий программируемый усилитель постоянного тока с дистанционным управлением

Introduction. The developmental direction of information-measuring systems used to record, pre-process and analyse excess low-frequency noise (flicker noise) in modern experimental technology is well known. Every measuring channel is presented in the form of a multistage circuit with specified parameters at each stage. This creates difficulties in adapting a measuring system to specific experimental conditions. While the solution may be to unify all the components of the channel, the problem lies in estimating the intrinsic noise of the electronic elements which provide a change in amplifier parameters. Objective. To analyse the intrinsic noise of electronic potentiometers. To develop a low-noise unified DC amplifier with the possibility of external digital control parameters. To study the characteristics of a DC amplifier thus developed. Materials and methods. The superposition method was used to perform theoretical calculation of noise gain for each component of a non-inverting amplifier. Experimental studies were based on a system consisting of a low-noise amplifying path and spectroanalyser using the data acquisition module E14-440. Software "Power-Graph" was used. Results. The results of the theoretical analysis of noise amplification for metal-film resistors and experimental studies of the characteristics of electronic potentiometers indicated that their noise voltages specific values are almost identical. The use of a digital potentiometer as a feedback element and a low-noise bipolar-powered bias source (AD8400) permitted the implementation of a unified module with cascading capability. External digital control was based on a single-chip microcontroller PIC18F2550, using the "Master-Slave" channel level protocol and ASCII-command-line interface based on RS-485 network. This control enabled adaptation for measuring electronic component noise, low currents and voltages, flicker noise and the construction of systems for information collecting and processing. Conclusion. The theoretical and practical results achieved herein enable the design of multichannel distributed DC measuring systems. The systems will offer adaptability for measuring channels to the tasks required, and the possibility of correction of real time characteristics.Введение. В современной технике эксперимента известно направление, связанное с разработкой информационно-измерительных систем регистрации и анализа избыточных низкочастотных шумов. Любой измерительный канал представлен в виде многокаскадной схемы с заданными параметрами каждого каскада, что затрудняет адаптацию измерительной системы к конкретным условиям эксперимента. Решением проблемы является унификация всех компонентов канала, однако при этом одной из основных проблем является оценка собственных шумов электронных элементов, обеспечивающих изменение параметров усилителя. Цель работы. Анализ собственных шумов электронных потенциометров, разработка малошумящего унифицированного усилителя постоянного тока с возможностью внешнего цифрового управления параметрами и исследование его характеристик. Материалы и методы. С помощью метода суперпозиции произведен теоретический расчет шумового усиления для каждого компонента неинвертирующего усилителя. Экспериментальные исследования проводились на базе установки, представляющей собой малошумящий усилительный тракт и спектроанализатор на основе модуля сбора данных E14-440 и программного обеспечения «PowerGraph». Результаты. По результатам теоретических расчетов шумового усиления для металлопленочных резисторов и экспериментальных исследований характеристик электронных потенциометров показано, что их удельные значения напряжений шумов практически идентичны. Использование цифрового потенциометра в качестве элемента обратной связи и малошумящего источника смещения с двухполярным питанием (AD8400), позволяют реализовать на их основе унифицированный модуль с возможностью каскадирования. Внешнее цифровое управление на основе однокристального микроконтроллера PIC18F2550, разработанного протокола канального уровня «Master-Slave» и ASCII-интерфейса командной строки на базе сети RS-485 позволяет адаптировать его к задачам измерения шумов электронных компонентов, малых токов и напряжений, фликкер-шумов, построения распределенных систем сбора и обработки информации. Заключение. Полученные теоретические и практические результаты делают возможным проектирование многоканальных распределенных измерительных систем постоянного тока с адаптацией измерительных каналов к поставленным задачам и возможностями программной коррекции характеристик в реальном времени

IEA EBC Annex 57 ‘Evaluation of Embodied Energy and CO_2eq for Building Construction'

The current regulations to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from buildings have focused on operational energy consumption. Thus legislation excludes measurement and reduction of the embodied energy and embodied GHG emissions over the building life cycle. Embodied impacts are a significant and growing proportion and it is increasingly recognized that the focus on reducing operational energy consumption needs to be accompanied by a parallel focus on reducing embodied impacts. Over the last six years the Annex 57 has addressed this issue, with researchers from 15 countries working together to develop a detailed understanding of the multiple calculation methods and the interpretation of their results. Based on an analysis of 80 case studies, Annex 57 showed various inconsistencies in current methodological approaches, which inhibit comparisons of results and difficult development of robust reduction strategies. Reinterpreting the studies through an understanding of the methodological differences enabled the cases to be used to demonstrate a number of important strategies for the reduction of embodied impacts. Annex 57 has also produced clear recommendations for uniform definitions and templates which improve the description of system boundaries, completeness of inventory and quality of data, and consequently the transparency of embodied impact assessments

El modelo de negocio de la información en Internet: Análisis prospectivo de la evolución del sector periodístico en un mercado convergente

El modelo de la comunicación vive un momento de crisis de especial trascendencia, motivado por la irrupción de Internet y los cambios que trae consigo en la producción, distribución y consumo de contenidos informativos. Este escenario de cambio se enmarca, además, en un contexto de crisis económica que amenaza el modelo de la comunicación vigente desde los inicios del periodismo. En la presente tesis doctoral investigamos, mediante la triangulación metodológica de datos de los principales informes nacionales e internacionales, las impresiones de los profesionales que analizamos cualitativamente a través de entrevistas en profundidad y el estudio cuantitativo mediante encuestas a los usuarios, si es posible un nuevo modelo de negocio de la comunicación en este mercado convergente. Las conclusiones nos permiten proyectar que el modelo que hará posible la pervivencia de los medios de comunicación en el entorno digital será, necesariamente, un modelo mixto que combine el pago por contenidos, la publicidad y las acciones especiales.<br /

Aging and delirium: an old known in the Emergency Department

With increasing life expectancy, it is coming to a marked increase of the geriatric diseases in emergency departments; multifactorial disease and increasingly of interest in the clinical setting. example of this reality is the delirium, which in the past 30 years has produced a marked interest in the medical literature as a result of the Renaissance as a diagnosis in the emergency units and intensive care, probably as a result of the emergence of medical specialties as geriatrics who have rescued the old man’s disease, this article presents a review of delirium in emergency departments and their correlation with the aging population.Con el aumento de la expectativa de vida, se está llegando a un incremento marcado de la patología geriátrica en los departamentos de urgencias; en el caso del delirium se ha demostrado en cerca del 14% de los ancianos hospitalizados y llegando a una incidencia variable entre el 10 al 52% en el grupo postquirúrgico de cadera. El delirium en los últimos 30 años ha presentado un interés marcado en la literatura médica como resultado del renacimiento como diagnostico en la unidades de urgencias y cuidados intensivos, seguramente como consecuencia de la aparición de especialidades médicas como la geriatría que han rescatado la patología del anciano; el presente artículo realiza una revisión del delirium en los departamentos de urgencias y su correlación con el envejecimiento de la población

Partículas de azogue: Movilidad y desplazamientos sígnicos del exilio cubano

Author contacted on 29/01/2014 to see if he could supply an abstract in English and any copyright information. No reply as of 04/04/2014 so withdrawn for now

The charcoal trap: Miombo forests and the energy needs of people

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study evaluates the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas fluxes to the atmosphere resulting from charcoal production in Zambia. It combines new biomass and flux data from a study, that was conducted in a <it>miombo </it>woodland within the Kataba Forest Reserve in the Western Province of Zambia, with data from other studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The measurements at Kataba compared protected area (3 plots) with a highly disturbed plot outside the forest reserve and showed considerably reduced biomass after logging for charcoal production. The average aboveground biomass content of the reserve (Plots 2-4) was around 150 t ha^-1, while the disturbed plot only contained 24 t ha^-1. Soil carbon was not reduced significantly in the disturbed plot. Two years of eddy covariance measurements resulted in net ecosystem exchange values of -17 ± 31 g C m^-2y^-1, in the first and 90 ± 16 g C m^-2in the second year. Thus, on the basis of these two years of measurement, there is no evidence that the <it>miombo </it>woodland at Kataba represents a present-day carbon sink. At the country level, it is likely that deforestation for charcoal production currently leads to a per capita emission rate of 2 - 3 t CO₂y^-1. This is due to poor forest regeneration, although the resilience of <it>miombo </it>woodlands is high. Better post-harvest management could change this situation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We argue that protection of <it>miombo </it>woodlands has to account for the energy demands of the population. The production at national scale that we estimated converts into 10,000 - 15,000 GWh y^-1of energy in the charcoal. The term "Charcoal Trap" we introduce, describes the fact that this energy supply has to be substituted when woodlands are protected. One possible solution, a shift in energy supply from charcoal to electricity, would reduce the pressure of forests but requires high investments into grid and power generation. Since Zambia currently cannot generate this money by itself, the country will remain locked in the charcoal trap such as many other of its African neighbours. The question arises whether and how money and technology transfer to increase regenerative electrical power generation should become part of a post-Kyoto process. Furthermore, better inventory data are urgently required to improve knowledge about the current state of the woodland usage and recovery. Net greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced substantially by improving the post-harvest management, charcoal production technology and/or providing alternative energy supply.</p

España en un mundo globalizado : ciudadania, cohesion social e institucionalidad: construyendo gobernanza democratica

El objetivo es impulsar un proceso de reflexión en torno al papel que pueden jugar en la Acción Exterior española nuestros mecanismos de cooperación internacional en el ámbito de la gobernanza democrática y el fortalecimiento institucional, así como las estrategias necesarias para capitalizarlos en términos de poder blando e influencia en la era de la globalización