The United Nations and the Peace Movement

The interaction and cooperation between United Nations and the peace movements world over have grown steadily. Much of it is done at the UN arms such as UNESCO, ECOSOC, UNIDA and UNIDIR. United Nations is an organization of sovereign states, while peace movements are part of civil society. Certain problems and challenges in the relationship between the UN and peace movement are necessarily of a permanent nature, producing pressure and tensions. Peace movements can well support the UN and regard it as the most important peace organization, but at the same time their legitimate task is to exert constant pressure. Revised version of a paper presented in the 25 th IPRA General Conference “Uniting for Peace”, Security and Disarmament Commission, Istanbul, 11–15 August, 201

Tuomo Martikainen in memoriam : Kolme muistokirjoitusta

Tässä numerossa Politiikka haluaa erityisesti muistaa professori Tuomo Martikaista kolmella muistokirjoituksella. Seuraavassa johdannossa on sovellettu Politiikka-lehden numero 1/2014, jonka esipuheessa tervehdittiin tuolloin 75 vuotta täyttänyttä professoria

A novel cement-based hybrid material

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are known to possess exceptional tensile strength, elastic modulus and electrical and thermal conductivity. They are promising candidates for the next-generation high-performance structural and multi-functional composite materials. However, one of the largest obstacles to creating strong, electrically or thermally conductive CNT/CNF composites is the difficulty of getting a good dispersion of the carbon nanomaterials in a matrix. Typically, time-consuming steps of purification and functionalization of the carbon nanomaterial are required. We propose a new approach to grow CNTs/CNFs directly on the surface of matrix particles. As the matrix we selected cement, the most important construction material. We synthesized in a simple one-step process a novel cement hybrid material (CHM), wherein CNTs and CNFs are attached to the cement particles. The CHM has been proven to increase 2 times the compressive strength and 40 times the electrical conductivity of the hardened paste, i.e. concrete without sand.Peer reviewe