When the logics of the world collapse – Žižek with and against Arendt on 'totalitarianism'

Despite Žižek's polemical attacks on Hannah Arendt, their writings on totalitarianism share significant similarities. Žižek's Lacanian analysis of the distortion of the elementary symbolic coordinates of human sociability in Stalinism refines Arendt's controversial account of the role of ideologies in totalitarian regimes; it brings to the political field an account of subjectivity and its relation to language derived from (Lacanian) psychoanalysis. Reading Žižek's analyses of Stalinist and fascist ideologies preserves – by psychoanalytically reframing – the radical philosophical register of Arendt's understanding of twentieth-century totalitarian regimes as attempting the systematic destruction of ‘world’ – the in-between public space of shared political human experience and action. Žižek's psychoanalytic framework allows us to address the tendency in Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism to conflate fascism and Stalinism and also to question the motives for these regimes’ political and ontological violences.

Anisotropic wetting characteristics on submicrometer-scale periodic grooved surface

Submicrometer-scale periodic structures consisting of parallel grooves were prepared on azobenzene-containing multiarm star polymer films by laser interference. The wetting characteristics on the patterned surfaces were studied by contact angle measurements. Macroscopic distortion of water drops was found on such small-scale surface structures, and the contact angles measured from the direction parallel to the grooves were larger than those measured from the perpendicular direction. A thermodynamic model was developed to calculate the change in the surface free energy as a function of the instantaneous contact angle when the three-phase contact line (TPCL) moves along the two orthogonal directions. It was found that the fluctuations, i.e., energy barriers, on the energy versus contact angle curves are crucial to the analysis of wetting anisotropy and contact angle hysteresis. The calculated advancing and receding contact angles from the energy versus contact angle curves were in good agreement with those measured experimentally. Furthermore, with the groove depth increasing, both the degree of wetting anisotropy and the contact angle hysteresis perpendicular to the grooves increased as a result of the increase in the energy barrier. The theoretical critical value of the groove depth, above which the anisotropic wetting appears, was determined to be 16 nm for the grooved surface with a wavelength of 396 nm. On the other hand, the effect of the groove wavelength on the contact angle hysteresis perpendicular to the grooves was also interpreted on the basis of the thermodynamic model. That is, with the wavelength decreasing, the contact angle hysteresis increased due to the increase in the number of energy barriers. These results may provide theoretical evidence for the design and application of anisotropic wetting surface.

A family of simple and robust finite elements for linear and geometrically nonlinear analysis of laminated composite plates

A family of simple, displacement-based and shear-flexible triangular and quadrilateral flat plate/shell elements for linear and geometrically nonlinear analysis of thin to moderately thick laminate composite plates are introduced and summarized in this paper.

The developed elements are based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and von-Karman’s large deflection theory, and total Lagrangian approach is employed to formulate the element for geometrically nonlinear analysis. The deflection and rotation functions of the element boundary are obtained from Timoshenko’s laminated composite beam functions, thus convergence can be ensured theoretically for very thin laminates and shear-locking problem is avoided naturally.

The flat triangular plate/shell element is of 3-node, 18-degree-of-freedom, and the plane displacement interpolation functions of the Allman’s triangular membrane element with drilling degrees of freedom are taken as the in-plane displacements of the element. The flat quadrilateral plate/shell element is of 4-node, 24-degree-of-freedom, and the linear displacement interpolation functions of a quadrilateral plane element with drilling degrees of freedom are taken as the in-plane displacements.

The developed elements are simple in formulation, free from shear-locking, and include conventional engineering degrees of freedom. Numerical examples demonstrate that the elements are convergent, not sensitive to mesh distortion, accurate and efficient for linear and geometric nonlinear analysis of thin to moderately thick laminates.

A simple displacement-based quadrilateral laminated composite plate element - part I : linear analysis

Based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and Timoshenko's laminated composite beam functions, a simple displacement-based 4-node, 24-dof quadrilateral laminated plate element is proposed in this paper for linear analysis of thin to moderately thick laminates. The deflection and rotation functions of the element boundary are obtained from the Timoshenko's laminated composite beam functions, hence convergence to the thin plate solution can be achieved theoretically and shear-locking problem is avoided naturally. The in-plane displacement functions of a quadrilateral plane element with drilling degrees of freedom are taken as the in-plane displacements of the proposed quadrilateral element. Some numerical examples of linear analysis of composite laminated plates are calculated, and the results show that the proposed element is convergent, shear-locking free, efficient, accurate and not sensitive to mesh distortion.

Solid state NMR characterization of polyrrole : the nature of the dopant in PF6− doped films

³¹P and ¹⁹F solid state NMR have been used to study the nature of the PF₆− anion in polypyrrole films at various levels of oxidation. It appears that the symmetric PF₆− unit remains undistorted and unchanged throughout, suggesting that it is predominantly acting only as a counterion and not as a true ‘dopant’, since any distortion in the phosphorous environments would result at the very least in chemical shift anisotropy of the ³¹P nucleus. A second set of phosphorous and fluorine resonances, which are consistent with a difluoride phosphorous compound, appeared in the films. Upon electrochemical reduction of the polymer, the undistorted PF₆− anion leaves the film whereas the second phosphorous species remains. Re-oxidation of the polymer reverses the processes observed during reduction.

On the components of the dielectric constants of ionic liquids : ionic polarization?

According to dielectric spectroscopy measurements, ionic liquids (ILs) have rather modest dielectric constants that reflect contributions from distortion and electronic polarization caused by the molecular polarizability as well as the orientation polarization caused by the permanent dipole moment of the ions. To understand the relative importance of these various contributions, the electronic polarizabilities of 27 routinely used ionic liquid ions of different symmetry and size were calculated using ab initio-based methods such as HF and MP2. Using the Clausius–Mossotti equation, these polarizabilities were then used to obtain the electronic polarization contribution (ε_op) to the dielectric constants of six ionic liquids, [C₂mim][BF₄], [C₂mpyr][N(CN)₂], [C₂mim][CF₃SO₃], [EtNH₃][NO₃], [C₂mim][NTf₂] and [C₂mim][EtSO₄]. Theoretical ε_op values were compared to experimental refractive indices of these ionic liquids as well as to those of traditional molecular solvents such as water, tetrahydrofuran (THF), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and formamide. The dipole moments of the ions were also calculated, and from these it is shown that the molecular reorientation component of the dielectric constants of the ionic liquids consisting of ions with small or negligible dipole moments is quite small. Thus it is concluded that a contribution from a form of “ionic polarization” must be present.

Gold-nanorod-facilitated nonlinear optical microscopy under radially polarised beam illumination

Reports on the use of radially polarised beam in gold-nanorod-facilitated nonlinear microscopy and therapy. It has been found that the use of radially polarised beam can greatly reduce the energy fluence threshold for treating cancer cells labelled with gold nanorods. The slight distortion in the polarisation properties of the radially polarised beam after propagating through double-clad photonic crystal fibres makes it promising in the application of fibre-optic based endoscopic system.

Integrated fluid-thermal-structural numerical analysis for the quenching of metallic components

The quenching of a metal component with a channel section in a water tank is numerically simulated. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to model the multiphase flow and the heat transfer in film boiling, nucleate boiling and convective cooling processes to calculate the difference in heat transfer rate around the component and then combining with the thermal simulation and structure analysis of the component to study the effect of heat transfer rate on the distortion of the U-channel component. A model is also established to calculate the residual stress produced by quenching. The coupling fluid-thermal-structural simulation provides an insight into the deformation of the component and can be used to perform parameter analysis to reduce the distortion of the component. © 2011 Shanghai Jiaotong University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Examining the dissociative basis for body image disturbances

Although dissociative symptoms have been linked with both food- and appearance-related aspects of eating disorders, the psychological mechanisms underlying these relationships remain unclear. The present study evaluated the hypothesis that the disturbances of self-identity attributed to dissociation can manifest as disturbances of body image and, in turn, undermine body-specific self-evaluations relevant to disordered eating (i.e., body comparison, body dissatisfaction, and internalization of the thin ideal). Ninety-three female university students completed self-report measures of dissociation and body-related aspects of disordered eating. In addition, the method of constant stimuli was used to experimentally derive three measures of body image disturbance: (1) accuracy of body size estimations (body image distortion), (2) ability to discriminate between different body sizes (body image sensitivity), and (3) consistency in one’s body size estimations (body image variability). The findings show that dissociation is related to symptoms of disordered eating, and that these relationships may be mediated by body image instability. Collectively, these findings support the notion that the body image attitudes and behaviours that characterize eating disorders may derive from proprioceptive deficits due to dissociation.

A two stage vector quantization approach via self-organizing map

In this paper, a two-stage algorithm for vector quantization is proposed based on a self-organizing map (SOM) neural network. First, a conventional self-organizing map is modified to deal with dead codebooks in the learning process and is then used to obtain the codebook distribution structure for a given set of input data. Next, subblocks are classified based on the previous structure distribution with a prior criteria. Then, the conventional LBG algorithm is applied to these sub-blocks for data classification with initial values obtained via the SOM. Finally, extensive simulations illustrate that the proposed two-stage algorithm is very effective.

The challenges and risks of measuring performance in a social learning system

This submission draws attention to the challenges of modelling and measuring teacher performance and the risks associated with the measurement of student and teacher performance. The first premise of this submission is that all such performances are strongly contextual, and that therefore valid modelling and measurement must take the effective dimensions of this context into account. The second premise of this submission is that this performance-context nexus operates as a system and that one of the properties of such systems is continuous feedback looping. The submission draws attention as well to an important entailment of this argument, which is that invalid modelling and measurement may lead to a distortion of the productive functioning of learning systems. This submission accordingly urges the Commission to commit to developing an econometric model which reckons with the contextual determinants of student and teacher performance, and the pursuit of system-wide productivity increases on the basis of the school learning system as the basic unit of analysis. The Commission is also urged to investigate the suggestion that performance measurement regimes which take the basic units of measurement as individual student and teacher performance rather than the school pose a risk to the productivity of schools as learning systems and innovation in the Australian economy as a whole in the longer term.

One tweet does not a revolution make : technological determinism, media and social change

This paper discusses the problematic influence of technological determinism in popular news media coverage and analysis of the Arab Spring events of 2010-11.

The purpose is to develop insights into how and why elements of a ‘soft’ technological determinism inflect both journalistic practice and news discourse in relation to the Arab Spring. In particular it discusses how the ‘bias of convenience’ and a journalistic obsession with the ‘continuous present’ connect with this determinist inflection to create a potential distortion in the journalists’ ‘first rough draft’ of history in relation to significant and complex events such as social revolution.

Market failure, policy failure and other distortions in chronic disease markets

Background: The increasing prevalence of chronic disease represents a significant burden on most health systems. This paper explores the market failures and policy failures that exist in the management of chronic diseases.
Discussion: There are many sources of market failure in health care that undermine the efficiency of chronic disease management. These include incomplete information as well as information asymmetry between providers and consumers, the effect of externalities on consumer behaviour, and the divergence between social and private time preference rates. This has seen government and policy interventions to address both market failures and distributional issues resulting from the inability of private markets to reach an efficient and equitable distribution of resources. However, these have introduced a series of policy failures such as distorted re-imbursement arrangements across modalities and delivery settings.
Summary: The paper concludes that market failure resulting from a preference of individuals for 'immediate gratification' in the form of health care and disease management, rather than preventative services, where the benefits are delayed, has a major impact on achieving an efficient allocation of resources in markets for the management of chronic diseases. This distortion is compounded by government health policy that tends to favour medical and pharmaceutical interventions further contributing to distortions in the allocation of resources and inefficiencies in the management of chronic disease.