Refleksje nad historiografią i teorią rewolucji

The major aim of this article is to analyse the concept of revolution and changes within the theory of revolution. Theorising about radical social changes raised questions which still have not been answered: how is revolution different from other social changes? Does it have the beginning and the end? Is it a result of chance or a necessity? Why does it take place at a particular time, in a given place? How does it evolve? These basic problems are still the subject of study today.Głównym celem artykułu jest analiza historii pojęcia rewolucji i zmian w ramach teorii rewolucji. Teoretyzowanie na temat radykalnych zmian społecznych od początku napotykało podstawowe problemy związane z omawianym zjawiskiem. Szereg pytań nie znalazło ‘ostatecznej’ odpowiedzi: Czym rewolucja różni się od innych zmian społecznych? Czy rewolucja ma początek i koniec? Czy rewolucja jest skutkiem przypadku czy konieczności? Dlaczego do rewolucji dochodzi w tym czasie i na tej przestrzeni? Jak rewolucja ewoluuje? Te podstawowe problemy wciąż są przedmiotem refleksji teoretyków rewolucji. Celem tego artykułu jest zaś wskazanie relacji między historią a teoriami rewolucji, jak i historią samej teorii

Use-wear analysis of copper-alloy artifacts. A window of opportunity or a dead end?

A world seen through the lenses of a microscope can lead to exceptional discoveries. Regarding archaeology, it can grant us knowledge about the possible usage of certain artifacts in the past. Previously unrecognized and unclassified fragments of flint and bone can be reinterpreted as a completely different item. Throughout the years there were a small few astounding scientist who laid foundations and improved on this part of archaeology. In this already tight-knit group of researchers there is an even smaller group of people who are interested in applying use-wear analysis to copper-alloy artifacts. It is quite a different approach. You still look for signs of usage or any other traces but the difference in material and overall structure of an artifact makes for quite a difficult task. The multiple issues and setbacks such as corrosion, acidity of the soil, the composition of alloys, conservation or simple mismanagement of an artifact can lead to a lot of misleading conclusions. Despite all those problem you can still gather data from use-wear analysis on metal. But can it be used in forming any sort of narrative or is just a “collection of pretty pictures”?A world seen through the lenses of a microscope can lead to exceptional discoveries. Regarding archaeology, it can grant us knowledge about the possible usage of certain artifacts in the past. Previously unrecognized and unclassified fragments of flint and bone can be reinterpreted as a completely different item. Throughout the years there were a small few astounding scientist who laid foundations and improved on this part of archaeology. In this already tight-knit group of researchers there is an even smaller group of people who are interested in applying use-wear analysis to copper-alloy artifacts. It is quite a different approach. You still look for signs of usage or any other traces but the difference in material and overall structure of an artifact makes for quite a difficult task. The multiple issues and setbacks such as corrosion, acidity of the soil, the composition of alloys, conservation or simple mismanagement of an artifact can lead to a lot of misleading conclusions. Despite all those problem you can still gather data from use-wear analysis on metal. But can it be used in forming any sort of narrative or is just a “collection of pretty pictures”

MTCA.4 - modular measurement and control system with sub-nanosecond time synchronization and support for RF applications

Abstract—The Micro TCA platform is rapidly developing modular technology for measurement and control systems. There are available versions for laboratories, military and aviation. The newest release of the standard (MTCA.4) supports high frequency RF applications like particle accelerators, radio, telecom and radar. The PERG group together with partners from Europe and Poland takes active part in development process, i.e. implementation of sub-ns synchronization, event and RF distribution system over fibre networks. It enhances significantly capabilities of MTCA platform in distributed measurement systems (i.e. passive radars) and enables fully deterministic operation of hard realtime control systems

The origin and expansion of the eastern red fox

When new populations are first identified in a region there are multiple potential sources: introduction of a non-native species, extra-range expansion of a nearby population, or demographic growth of a previously unnoticed species. Red foxes were absent or rare in the mid-eastern portion United States until the late 1800s. Their origins potentially include natural population increase/expansion, translocations from Europe, and, eventually, 20th century fur farming. In this study I attempt to identify the relative impact of native expansion versus human mediated introductions of both colonial era European foxes and early 20th century fur-farm foxes on the establishment of red foxes in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. I subsequently address the potential impacts of hybridization and nuclear introgression between previously separate sister taxa. Through analysis of mitochondrial DNA, I identified indigenous haplotypes, two European haplotypes, and fur-farm haplotypes; another set of haplotypes were potentially indigenous or native. In addition, I found European Y-chromosome haplotypes. Most European and fur-farm haplotypes were found near the densely human-populated coastal plain and Hudson River lowlands; most red foxes of the Appalachians and Piedmont had native eastern haplotypes. However, nuclear data does not support this division showing low genetic structure despite the broad geographic scale of our study area, attributable both to range expansion and admixture. Admixture has not had the same impact on the nuclear genome as it has in mitochondrial haplotypes leading to mito-nuclear discordance across the region. I also found evidence for differential patterns of expansion related to habitat. Specifically, the Appalachian Mountains acted as a corridor for gene flow from the northern native source into the southern Mid-Atlantic regio

The origin and expansion of the eastern red fox

When new populations are first identified in a region there are multiple potential sources: introduction of a non-native species, extra-range expansion of a nearby population, or demographic growth of a previously unnoticed species. Red foxes were absent or rare in the mid-eastern portion United States until the late 1800s. Their origins potentially include natural population increase/expansion, translocations from Europe, and, eventually, 20th century fur farming. In this study I attempt to identify the relative impact of native expansion versus human mediated introductions of both colonial era European foxes and early 20th century fur-farm foxes on the establishment of red foxes in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. I subsequently address the potential impacts of hybridization and nuclear introgression between previously separate sister taxa. Through analysis of mitochondrial DNA, I identified indigenous haplotypes, two European haplotypes, and fur-farm haplotypes; another set of haplotypes were potentially indigenous or native. In addition, I found European Y-chromosome haplotypes. Most European and fur-farm haplotypes were found near the densely human-populated coastal plain and Hudson River lowlands; most red foxes of the Appalachians and Piedmont had native eastern haplotypes. However, nuclear data does not support this division showing low genetic structure despite the broad geographic scale of our study area, attributable both to range expansion and admixture. Admixture has not had the same impact on the nuclear genome as it has in mitochondrial haplotypes leading to mito-nuclear discordance across the region. I also found evidence for differential patterns of expansion related to habitat. Specifically, the Appalachian Mountains acted as a corridor for gene flow from the northern native source into the southern Mid-Atlantic regio

Large, long range tensile forces drive convergence during

Indirect evidence suggests that blastopore closure during gastrulation of anamniotes, including amphibians such as Xenopus laevis, depends on circumblastoporal convergence forces generated by the marginal zone (MZ), but direct evidence is lacking. We show that explanted MZs generate tensile convergence forces up to 1.5 mN during gastrulation and over 4 mN thereafter. These forces are generated by convergent thickening (CT) until the midgastrula and increasingly by convergent extension (CE) thereafter. Explants from ventralized embryos, which lack tissues expressing CE but close their blastopores, produce up to 2 mN of tensile force, showing that CT alone generates forces sufficient to close the blastopore. Uniaxial tensile stress relaxation assays show stiffening of mesodermal and ectodermal tissues around the onset of neurulation, potentially enhancing long-range transmission of convergence forces. These results illuminate the mechanobiology of early vertebrate morphogenic mechanisms, aid interpretation of phenotypes, and give insight into the evolution of blastopore closure mechanisms. © Shook et al

Populism in Poland – between demagoguery and demophilia

Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie ewolucji populizmu w Polsce przy użyciu dwóch przykładów partii politycznych: „Samoobrony” Andrzeja Leppera (była to partia populistyczna, która uzyskała największe poparcie w pierwszej dekadzie XXI wieku) oraz ruchu „Kukiz’15” – czarnego konia ostatnich wyborów parlamentarnych. Oba te ugrupowania znakomicie ilustrują demagogię charakterystyczną dla populizmu, związaną z afirmacją narodu, która z kolei nie byłaby możliwa bez anty establishmentowej postawy przywódców politycznych i elektoratu. Porównanie tych dwóch przykładów umożliwiło nam monitorowanie przemian zachodzących w ugrupowaniach populistycznych w ciągu ostatnich kilku lat, zwłaszcza w czasach gdy Internet służy jako podstawowy środek komunikacji. W artykule zaprezentowano kolejno alternatywne konceptualizacje idei populizmu, a później – korzystając ze schematu N. Baara (2009) i danych drugorzędnych i podstawowych (dane uzyskane w internetowym poradniku wyborczym „Barometr Wyborczy”), oraz publikacji prasowych – zarysowano różnorodne powiązania występujące między obydwoma ugrupowaniami, co pozwoliło w rezultacie określić nowe, ciekawe cechy populizmu.The goal of this paper is to present the evolution of populism in Poland using the examples of two political parties: the “Samoobrona” (“Self-Defense”) political party of Andrzej Lepper (a populist party which garnered most support in the first decade of the 21st century) and the “Kukiz ‘15” movement – the dark horse of the last Polish parliamentary elections. Both of these groups superbly illustrate the demagogy characteristic of populism, linked with an affirmation of the people (nation) which in turn would not be possible without the anti-establishment stance of the political leaders and the electorate. A comparison of these two examples allows us to monitor the transformations occurring in populist groups over the last few years, especially in the age where the Internet is employed as a vital means of communication. The paper presents the alternative conceptualizations of the idea of populism, and moves on to employ the N. Baar scheme (2009) and secondary and primary data (data obtained from the “Barometr Wyborczy” voting advisory application), and press releases to draft various types of correspondence between these two cases, which makes it possible to identify new, interesting characteristics of populism

Digital Beam Trajectory and Orbit System, for the CERN Proton Synchrotron

A new trajectory and orbit measurement system using fast signal sampling and digital signal processing in an FPGA is proposed for the CERN PS. The system uses a constant sampling frequency while the beam revolution frequency changes during acceleration. Synchronization with the beam is accomplished through a numerical PLL algorithm. This algorithm is also capable of treating RF gymnastics like bunch splitting or batch compression with the help of external timing signals. Baseline and position calculation are provided in the FPGA code as well. After having implemented the algorithms in C and MatLab and tested them with data from a test run at the PS, they have now been implemented in the FPGA for online use. Results of measurements on a single beam position monitor in the CERN PS and the SIS-18 at GSI will be presented