Urbanisation History of Slovenia in the Context of Eastern and South-Eastern European Countries

Compared to industrially well-developed western European countries, which after the Second World War experienced intense growth of urban population, Slovenian urban system marked a distinctive form of polycentric development supported by specific political decisions. The diminishment of agricultural activities i.e. deagrarisation, was not followed by intense migration to urban areas and could be better described as moderate growth of urban population. After the change of political system in 1991 and introduction of freemarket conditions, the socio-economic restrictions that directed urban development suddenly disappeared. The processes of urbanisation intensified and supported the fast economic development of Slovenia. The fast upgrade of the highway network triggered intensive automobilisation processes that fuelled urban sprawl and influenced various groups of people and economic activities to move from the previous locations in the city centres. Consequences of these processes are seen in the start of gentrification process, expansion of suburban consumption spaces and change in the role of city centres. Keywords: urban sprawl, automobilisation, revitalisation, spatial values

Albert Einstein – Wissenschaft und Religion

The main issue of this paper is the question what Einstein actually meant from the philosophical and/or theological point of view in his famous phrase God does not play dice. What is the ‘underlying’ concept of necessity in this phrase, and first of all: which God here does not play dice – theistic, deistic, pantheistic? Some other passages from Einstein’s informal writings and public speeches suggest that he was very close to pantheism, following Spinoza, whom he admired and appreciated mostly among philosophers. However, Spinoza’s pantheism implies determinism which was presumably not the main point of Einstein’s protest against ‘dicing God’ in quantum physics… So, is Einstein’s God nevertheless closer to Newton’s Pantocrator as to Spinoza’s Deus sive natura? Maybe yes, but only in case if the ‘Universal Ruler’ does not punish, neither reward his creatures, ourselves, tiny human beings in the mighty and incredibly ‘well-tuned’ cosmos. The enigma of the famous phrase remains.Le problème principal présenté dans cet article est le point de vue philosophique ou théologique d’Einstein dans sa phrase célèbre: Dieu ne joue pas aux dés. Quel en était le concept « fondamental » de nécessité? Et avant tout: quel est ce Dieu qui ne joue pas aux dés? Est-ce un Dieu théiste, déiste ou panthéiste? Certains autres passages des écrits informels d’Einstein et de ses discours montrent qu’il était très proche du panthéisme, admirateur de Spinoza qu’il considérait comme le plus grand des philosophes. Pourtant le panthéisme de Spinoza implique le déterminisme qui, probablement, n’a pas été la raison principale de son désaccord avec Dieu qui joue aux dés dans la physique quantique. Donc il est sans importance que le Dieu d’Einstein soit plus proche du Pantocrator de Newton, ou plutôt de Deus sive natura de Spinoza. Peut-être que oui, mais seulement si le Souverain universel ne punit ni ne récompense ses créatures, donc nous-mêmes, ces êtres minuscules dans ce monde immense et bien harmonisé. L’énigme est toujours posée.Der Artikel setzt sich vornehmlich mit der Frage auseinander, was es mit Einsteins berühmtem Dictum Gott würfelt nicht im philosophischen und/oder theologischen Sinne auf sich hat. Welches ist das grundlegende Konzept der Notwendigkeit, auf der dieser Satz beruht, und vor allem: Welcher Gott, der nicht spielt, ist hier gemeint – der theistische, der deistische oder der pantheistische? Einige Abschnitte aus Einsteins Schriften und öffentlichen Reden legen die Vermutung nahe, dass er dem Pantheismus zugeneigt war, in Anlehnung an Spinoza, den er stets bewunderte und von allen Philosophen am meisten schätzte. Allerdings setzt Spinozas Pantheismus Determinismus voraus, was vermutlich nicht der Hauptgrund für Einsteins Protest gegen einen „würfelnden Gott” in der Quantenphysik gewesen sein mag… Sollte demnach Einsteins Gott dem Newton’schen Pantokrator oder Spinozas Deus sive natura näher stehen? Das ist möglich, aber nur wenn der Universalherrscher seine Kreaturen, uns winzige Geschöpfe, in einem immensen und vor allem „wohltemperierten” Universum weder bestraft noch belohnt. Das Änigma des berühmten Satzes bleibt ungelöst

Organising aspects of the Levels Added Organisation (LAO)

How to achieve a more efficient, more successful, and above all more competitive organisation in the given environment and equal spare time in everything? One of responses is evidently hidden in the levels added organisation concept, which has already proved its advantages in some domains practice, and now we also try to define and explain them from the organisational and scientific aspect. As briefly presented in this paper, the nucleus is hidden in the evolutionary development of the organisation that adopts innovations, then tests and evaluates them, combines and upgrades them, and consequently it efficiently resolves difficulties of existent organisational concepts

Review of Design Extension Conditions Experiments and Analyses for Non-degraded Core

The second generation nuclear power plants were designed and built to withstand without loss to the systems, structures, and components necessary to ensure public health and safety during design basis accidents (DBAs). In the transient and accident analysis the effects of single active failures and operator errors were considered. There are also accident sequences that are possible but were judged to be too unlikely and therefore were not fully considered in the design process of second generation reactors. In that sense, they were considered beyond the scope of design-basis accidents that a nuclear facility must be designed and built to withstand. Such accident sequences have been analysed in the past to fully understand the capability of a design. The requirements to analyse such sequences for existing reactors have been introduced after Fukushima Dai-ichi accident. In 2012 the design extension conditions (DECs) were introduced in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requirements for the design of nuclear power plants (NPPs). Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA) requirements of existing reactors for DEC were introduced in 2014. The purpose of considering DEC is to further improve safety by enhancing the plant’s capability to withstand the conditions generated by accidents that are more severe than DBAs. This concept by IAEA and WENRA (WENRA definition of DEC is consistent with IAEA definition from 2012, in which DEC with prevention of core melt is called DEC A) is not completely new, since some multiple failures have already been considered in the design of existing reactors, for example anticipated transients without scram and station blackout. The research for beyond design basis accidents with non-degraded core (i.e. DEC A) for existing reactors has been already done in 80’s and 90’ of the previous century. The purpose of this paper is to review that research. The tests performed include total loss of feedwater, station blackout, small break without high pressure safety injection, steam generator tube rupture with no high pressure safety injection etc. Besides review of experiments performed on integral test facilities, examples of DEC A tests, which have been analysed at Jožef Stefan Institute using RELAP5 or TRACE computer code in the last three decades, will be presented too

Rehabilitation for Gazan Children and Young Adults

Years of conflict in the Gaza Strip have killed and injured thousands. In response to the need for survivor rehabilitation, Slovenia’s ITF Enhancing Human Security and the University Rehabilitation Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (URI Soča) initiated the Gaza Project, a rehabilitation program for injured children and young adults. Since the Gaza Project’s inception in 2009, more than 300 children and young adults were medically evaluated, 100 children and young adults received treatment and 18 local medical professionals were trained at URI Soča

Review of Design Extension Conditions Experiments and Analyses for Non-degraded Core

The second generation nuclear power plants were designed and built to withstand without loss to the systems, structures, and components necessary to ensure public health and safety during design basis accidents (DBAs). In the transient and accident analysis the effects of single active failures and operator errors were considered. There are also accident sequences that are possible but were judged to be too unlikely and therefore were not fully considered in the design process of second generation reactors. In that sense, they were considered beyond the scope of design-basis accidents that a nuclear facility must be designed and built to withstand. Such accident sequences have been analysed in the past to fully understand the capability of a design. The requirements to analyse such sequences for existing reactors have been introduced after Fukushima Dai-ichi accident. In 2012 the design extension conditions (DECs) were introduced in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requirements for the design of nuclear power plants (NPPs). Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA) requirements of existing reactors for DEC were introduced in 2014. The purpose of considering DEC is to further improve safety by enhancing the plant’s capability to withstand the conditions generated by accidents that are more severe than DBAs. This concept by IAEA and WENRA (WENRA definition of DEC is consistent with IAEA definition from 2012, in which DEC with prevention of core melt is called DEC A) is not completely new, since some multiple failures have already been considered in the design of existing reactors, for example anticipated transients without scram and station blackout. The research for beyond design basis accidents with non-degraded core (i.e. DEC A) for existing reactors has been already done in 80’s and 90’ of the previous century. The purpose of this paper is to review that research. The tests performed include total loss of feedwater, station blackout, small break without high pressure safety injection, steam generator tube rupture with no high pressure safety injection etc. Besides review of experiments performed on integral test facilities, examples of DEC A tests, which have been analysed at Jožef Stefan Institute using RELAP5 or TRACE computer code in the last three decades, will be presented too

The importance of green amenities for small creative actors in Tokyo: Comparing natural and sociocultural spatial attraction characteristics

In the last decade, the Japanese authorities have invested considerable effort and economic resources into constructing developmental models that can help build a friendlier environment for the domestic creative economy. Due to Tokyo’s specific natural and sociocultural characteristics, these efforts have had mixed effects on small creative groups. Based on an analysis of spatial attraction factors for individuals from various creative occupations, this article identifies how important green or natural amenities are in comparison with other sociocultural characteristics for small creative groups. The analysis of data acquired through semi-structured interviews indicates that green amenities do not play a primary role in the spatial distribution of small creative groups, but they do play a very important secondary role in cases when creative workers balance similar spatial attraction characteristics in specific areas in Tokyo

Advantages and disadvantages of hormone replacement therapy

In the developed countries, more than 30% of female population is in the postmenopusal period of their life. Approximately one third of these present with severe clinical menopausal symptoms, such as hot flushes, sleeplessness, night sweats, and depression. Many women search medical help. By means of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), these problems can be either completely eliminated or alleviated in 90% of women. The suspected association between HRT and risk of carcinoma should be ignored, however. While estrogens in combination with progestogens exert a protective effec against ovarian and endometrial carcinomas, a possible correlation between HRT and breast cancer has not been fully explained yet. Nevertheless, some published reports have indicated a slightly increased risk of breast cancer after a prolonged use of HRT

Corrosion cast study of the canine hepatic veins

This study presents a detailed description of the distribution, diameters and drainage patterns of hepatic veins on the basis of the corrosion cast analysis in 18 dogs. We classified the hepatic veins in three main groups: the right hepatic veins of the caudate process and right lateral liver lobe, the middle hepatic veins of the right medial and quadrate lobes and the left hepatic veins of both left liver lobes and the papillary process. The corrosion cast study showed that the number of the veins in the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria and most anatomical textbooks is underestimated. The number of various-sized hepatic veins of the right liver division ranged from 3 to 5 and included 1 to 4 veins from the caudate process and 2 to 4 veins from the right lateral liver lobe. Generally, in all corrosion casts, one middle-sized vein from the right part of the right medial lobe, which emptied separately in the caudal vena cava, was established. The other vein was a large-sized vein from the remainder of the central division, which frequently joined the common left hepatic vein from the left liver lobes. The common left hepatic vein was the largest of all the aforementioned hepatic veins.