Books on the topic 'Layered Sample'

Allegory is a figure of speech that is frequently used in Christian religious discourse, not only in the Christian Scriptures, but also in theological and homiletic literature throughout history. However, its use has also been viewed with suspicion by various schools of Christian thought. That is, allegory as a figure of speech is perceived as both being a useful tool for religious discourse and beset by limitations. This double-sided perception of the utility of allegory is rooted in the cognitive complexities that the comprehension of allegory involves, according to Unger (2017). Processing allegory involves our ability to detect and process multiple layers of communication in one act of ostensive communication. Thus, allegory has the potential for being effective for communicating complex thoughts in an elegant and effective way; at the same time, it runs the risk of inviting the audience to overinterpret the communication event.

It is widely assumed that ergativity is not a primitive phenomenon but derives from a constellation of properties. This chapter demonstrates that we find similar structural constellations in the layer of structure where speech act relations are introduced. In particular, it is argued that speech act structure consists of a grounding layer, where the speaker’s or the addressee’s commitment towards the proposition are encoded. The second layer of SA-structure is dedicated to the response system of language: e.g., what the speaker wants the addressee to do with the utterance. Each of these layers can come in different guises, in much the same way as argument-structure can be transitive, ergative, or unergative. This lends support to the idea that ergativity is not a primitive phenomenon but also sheds new light on the syntax of speech acts suggesting that they typology of speech acts is more complicated than typically assumed.

This chapter describes an experiment on the inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) induced by spin pumping. Spin pumping is the generation of spin currents as a result of magnetization M(t) precession; in a ferromagnetic/paramagnetic bilayer system, a conduction-electron spin current is pumped out of the ferromagnetic layer into the paramagnetic conduction layer in a ferromagnetic resonance condition. The sample used in the experiment is a Ni81Fe19/Pt bilayer film comprising a 10-nm-thick ferromagnetic Ni81Fe19layer and a 10-nm-thick paramagnetic Pt layer. For the measurement, the sample system is placed near the centre of a TE011 microwave cavity at which the magnetic-field component of the microwave mode is maximized while the electric-field component is minimized.

The landscapes of exoplanets are likely to be incredibly diverse: exoplanets come in a large range of sizes and masses, and therefore surface gravities. Atmospheres can be thick layers, or absent. The interior makeup of exoplanets is even harder to know, but the formation scenarios of the giant planets and the remains of planets found in white-dwarf atmospheres provide insights. All that knowledge, combined with information on the central stars and other exoplanets within a system, provides a view of past, present, and future environments. This chapter reviews sample exoplanets and the conditions on their surfaces.

The diverse musics of the Caribbean form a vital part of the identity of individual island nations and their diasporic communities. At the same time, they witness to collective continuities and the interrelatedness that underlies the region's multi-layered complexity. This Companion introduces familiar and less familiar music practices from different nations, from reggae, calypso and salsa to tambú, méringue and soca. Its multidisciplinary, thematic approach reveals how the music was shaped by strategies of resistance and accommodation during the colonial past and how it has developed in the postcolonial present. The book encourages a comparative and syncretic approach to studying the Caribbean, one that acknowledges its patchwork of fragmented, dynamic, plural and fluid differences. It is an innovative resource for scholars and students of Caribbean musical culture, particularly those seeking a decolonising perspective on the subject.

This article appears in theOxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aestheticsedited by John Richardson, Claudia Gorbman, and Carol Vernallis. While the commercial and sociological aspects of technological convergence have been discussed among scholars, producers, and consumers, this chapter explores the aesthetics of convergence and how the technological/historical/aesthetic conventions of distinctly different media can be used as “meta” gestures. Two multimedia products focusing on the same complex topic-climate change-are used to illustrate how audiovisual space is configured differently in “theatrical” and “cinematic” modes and how those spaces can create a higher level rhythm and texture. The film documentaryAn Inconvenient Truthalternates rhetorical theatrical and affective cinematic spaces. The three-part television seriesClimate Warsis markedly more complex and contrapuntal, “theatricalizing” the audience-screen relationship of cinema and deploying a dense, layered visual texture. The soundscape and visual field organize information from relatively straightforward, reinforcing “harmony"; to a counterpoint commenting on earlier documentaries; to streams of information that can overwhelm comprehension, creating affective “bursts” akin to musical stings.

This chapter considers the nature of the security which the borrower creates; the specific characteristics of security created over particular types of asset; and which lender is entitled to priority in the case of competing layers of security on the same asset. The discussions cover fixed charges, floating assets, categories of priority claims, statutory priorities, priority as against other secured creditors, and priority as against unsecured creditors.

This article describes the use of tip-enhanced near-field Raman spectroscopy for the characterization of materials at the nanoscale. Tip-enhanced near-field Raman spectroscopy utilizes a metal-coated sharp tip and is based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Instead of the large surface enhancement from the metallic surface in SERS, the sharp metal coated tip in the tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) provides nanoscaled surface enhancement only from the sample molecules in the close vicinity of the tip-apex, making it a perfect technique for nanoanalysis of materials. This article focuses on near-field analysis of some semiconducting nanomaterials and some carbon nanostructures. It first considers SERS analysis of strained silicon and TERS analysis of epsilon-Si and GaN thin layers before explaining how to improve TERS sensitivity and control the polarization in detection for crystalline materials. It also discusses ways of improving the spatial resolution in TERS.

This chapter describes the contributions that Corpus Linguistics (the study of linguistic phenomena by means of systematically exploiting collections of naturally-occurring linguistic data) can make to IS research. It discusses issues of designing a corpus that can serve as a basis for qualitative or quantitative studies, and then turns to the central issue of data annotation: what corpora are available that have been annotated with IS-related annotations, and how can such annotations be evaluated? In case a corpus does not have direct IS annotation, can other types of annotations, especially in the form of multi-layer annotation, be used as indirect evidence for the presence of IS phenomena? Next, the present state of the art in automatic IS annotation (by means of techniques from computational linguistics) is sketched, and finally, several sample studies that exploit IS annotations are introduced briefly.

As chiptune has grown in significance and popularity, the sound has begun to feature more in commercial releases, not just in commercial music tracks but in television advertising campaigns and movie soundtracks. The final chapter explores the tension that is created when an underground style of music like chiptune connects with the mainstream. It examines the Timbaland case, in which the hip-hop and R & B artist was accused of plagiarism, having sampled the music from a Finnish demo; discusses how national and international exhibitions of 8-bit video game art and music are providing a platform that legitimizes chiptune as a form of contemporary cultural expression; and highlights how, when executed with due reverence and care, as happened with the soundtrack to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, can add extra layers of context and meaning to a production. It concludes by asking ‘what next’?

This article analyzes the electronic structure of epitaxial graphene using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). It first describes how the carbon atoms in graphene are arranged before discussing the growth and characterization of graphene samples. It then considers the electronic structure of epitaxial graphene, along with the gap opening in single-layer epitaxial graphene. It also examines possible mechanisms for the gap opening in graphene, including quantum confinement, mixing of the states between the Brillouin zone corner K points induced by scattering, and hybridization of the valence and conduction bands caused by symmetry breaking in carbon sublattices. Clear deviations from the conical dispersions are observed near the Diracpoint energy, which can be interpreted as a gap opening attributed to graphene–substrate interaction. Graphene–substrate interaction is thus a promising route for engineering the bandgap in graphene.

In chapter 7, Atef Said examines how his positionality as an Egyptian-born American researcher and activist shaped his research experiences and his thinking on ethical issues during Egypt’s revolution and its counterrevolution. Said explains how these interwoven layers of positionality played out in contradictory ways during the uprising, as it was a burden while giving him great accessibility at the same time and investigates how these issues changed over the different stages of conducting his research until writing about the revolution, and the unique challenges of conducting research under harsh autocratic military rule. He discusses some of his methodological solutions to navigate the closed political space in Egypt today.

Various fields of research have developed to better understand the health and behavioral effects of environmental characteristics such as air quality and the way our homes and neighborhoods are organized. A synergy of many previously disparate fields of research is underway, aided in part by recent advances in technology. Better sensors, including wearable physiological and environmental monitors, are enabling researchers to more readily study the interactions between environment characteristics and both mental and physical well-being. This new evidence-based research direction adds a much-needed layer of quantitative data to previous, largely qualitative, findings. Moreover, an increased understanding of the environment’s effects on humans can result in not just the alleviation of negative environmental characteristics but also the promotion of positive environmental characteristics. This chapter offers samples of environmental effects on human health and well-being in the following categories: environmental quality, natural systems, sensory environments, physical activity, safety, and social connectedness.

This chapter moves beyond viewing nodes as homogeneous dots set on a plane. To introduce more complicated underlying space, multiplex networks (which are defined with layers of interaction on the same underlying node set) and temporal (time-dependent) networks are discussed. It shown that despite the much more complicated underlying space, many of the techniques developed in earlier chapters can be applied. Heterogeneous nodes are introduced as an extension of the stochastic block model for community structure, then extended using methods developed in earlier chapters to more general (continuous) node attributes such as fitness. The chapter closes with a discussion of the intersections and similarities between the many alternative models for capturing topological features that have been presented in the book.

This chapter examines the bureaucratic maze of state regulations that community activists face. It quickly becomes clear that procedures within the state Department of Environmental Protection funnel citizen input away from critical decision making. Activists are told that only in the state legislature can they argue that mountaintop removal should not be allowed. That same legislature is awash in political campaign contributions from coal companies, and in fact populated with many members who are themselves tied to the industry. From the shady dealings of land companies in the nineteenth century to the shady dealings of Governor Moore, West Virginians are accustomed to Coal's institutional dominance over their politics and economics. Ultimately, layers of bureaucracy make it difficult to hold politicians or the industry accountable.

What was the Holy Roman Empire in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries? At the turning point between the medieval and early modern periods, this vast central European polity was the continent’s most politically fragmented. The imperial monarchs were often weak and distant, while an array of regional actors played autonomous political roles. The Empire’s obvious differences from more centralized European kingdoms have stimulated negative judgements and fraught debates, expressed in the historiographical concepts of fractured ‘territorial states’ and a disjointed ‘imperial constitution’. This book challenges these interpretations through a wide-ranging case study of Upper Germany between 1346 and 1521. By examining the interactions of princes, prelates, nobles, and towns comparatively, it demonstrates that a range of actors and authorities shared the same toolkit of rituals, judicial systems, and configurations of government. Crucially, Upper German elites all participated in leagues, alliances, and other treaty-based associations. As frameworks for collective activity, associations were a vital means of enabling and regulating warfare, justice and arbitration, and even lordship and administration. The prevalence of associations encouraged a mentality of ‘horizontal’ membership of political communities, so that even the Empire itself came to be understood and articulated as an extensive and multi-layered association. On the basis of this evidence, the book offers a new and more coherent vision of the Holy Roman Empire as a sprawling community of interdependent elites who interacted within the framework of a shared ‘associative political culture’, which constituted an alternative structure and pathway of political development in pre-modern Europe.

Hutton was one of many rough diamonds—‘men of great talent but no polish’—who offer an alternative model to ‘politeness’. These self-educated entrepreneurs add a new layer to our knowledge of provincial society. Chapter 2 defines their characteristics, roles, strategies, and impacts. Case studies give life to Hutton’s collaborators and competitors including the printer John Baskerville, the industrialist Samuel Garbett, and the papermaker Robert Bage. They reveal how outsiders fit (or not) into the social structure and how mainstream society responded. Their lack of education and refusal to give deference caused problems, resentment, and grudges that are revealed in Hutton’s ‘Memorandums’. The result is a picture of suppressed conflict that allows us to address questions about social change and mobility. Yet because rough diamonds had confidence to experiment with new ideas, they became driving forces for the spread of mass culture on a less refined but more widespread plane.

Although religious conversion is rare (most people are born and socialized into their faiths), it provides an important challenge for social science. This chapter considers the relative merits of explanations (such as brainwashing) that see conversion as something done to the convert and more activist paradigms that see conversion as an accomplishment of the religious seeker. It also considers the extent to which we can take what people say when accounting for their actions as the raw material for our explanations. It argues against the view that talk is only ever another narrative. Although an account of one’s past (given in court, for example) may well be shaped by a desire to influence hearers, it can still be used as material for inferring motives. In everyday life we untangle layers of motives and distinguish between different degrees of self-understanding and honesty. We can do the same in social science.

The idea of sustainable development as a three-way relationship with the environment, the economy, and social considerations all occupying different points of the triangle emerged between 1970 and 1990. The synthesis occurred as the economic situation of the developed world slowed, and the developing world collapsed. This collapse gave the push for a fundamental rethink on matters of free trade, debt, aid, and transnational corporations. At the same time, a host of new problems emerged, from the nuclear accident at Chernobyl through to the shrinking ozone layer over Antarctica. Despite these very bleak events, the international community began to rally and started to create a new generation of laws and policies, which for the first time in decades started to make progress in confronting the difficulties at hand.

This chapter explains the linguistic relevance of the difference between extensive measure functions like volume and intensive measure functions like temperature, as illustrated by the pseudopartitives thirty liters of water vs. thirty degrees Celsius of water (Krifka 1998, Schwarzschild 2006). Subsuming these previous accounts, stratified reference correctly predicts the monotonicity constraint: such constructions disallow measure functions that generally return the same value on an entity and on its parts. For example, in order for *thirty degrees Celsius of water to be acceptable, it would have to describe a water entity whose parts are colder than itself; but there are no such entities. Stratified reference relativizes unboundedness to just one dimension or measure function at a time. This makes it possible to account for examples like five feet of snow even though not every part of a five-foot layer of snow is less than five feet high.

This chapter reviews the book Stepmother Russia, Foster Mother America: Identity Transitions in the New Odessa Jewish Commune, Odessa, Oregon, New York, 1881–1891 (2014), by Theodore H. Friedgut, together with Israel Mandelkern, Recollections of a Communist (edited and annotated by Theodore H. Friedgut). Stepmother Russia, Foster Mother America is a two-in-one volume that explores an obscure episode in the history of the Jews in the late nineteenth century while at the same time connecting much of its content to the author’s own life experience as a son of western Canada’s Jewish farming colonies and, later, as an ideologically driven halutz on an Israeli kibbutz. Stepmother Russia, Foster Mother America retells one branch of the mostly forgotten history of the Am Olam agricultural movement and brings a new layer into the discussion of global Jewish agrarianism, while Recollections of a Communist offers an edited and annotated version of a memoir written by Mandelkern.

Aortic dissection represents a splitting apart of the layers of the aortic wall, with blood under pressure entering the dissection plane and propagating for long distances along the aorta. The pain is said to be the most severe that a human being can experience. Pain is felt substernally with ascending dissection and between the shoulder blades for descending dissection. A high degree of clinical suspicion is essential in order for the diagnosis not to be missed. Because the dissection process can impair any branch of the aorta, the patient may present with symptoms related to any organ in the body. D-dimer is 100% sensitive at detecting aortic dissection (but non-specific). The ‘Triple Rule-Out CT Scan’ can confirm the clinical suspicion of aortic dissection, while at the same time ruling-out the other two cardiac conditions that can take a patient’s life acutely. Ascending dissection (Type A) is a surgical emergency because of the likelihood of intra-pericardial rupture. Descending dissection (Type B) is usually treated medically (with ‘anti-impulse’ therapy with β‎-blockers and afterload reducers). This condition is highly litigated and lethal if missed on initial presentation. Using D-dimer and liberal imaging will prevent mis-diagnosis and save lives.

How wounds from a previous generation may weigh on children and grandchildren contain much of interest. Yet if we unpack the ghostly, the eerie, and the spectral in transgenerational hauntings, if we allow for the suffering or the disturbed to forge social links, such contacts may enable breaking into reconnections and afterlives. … One only needs to think of the near epidemic of rape in South Africa to sense violent hypermasculinity erupting as madness, mediated by a history of brutal, racialised reduction. But it is also important to move beyond the brutalities and madness, to consider the individual and collective refigurations surfacing out of layers of catastrophe. Nancy Rose Hunt: Conference Keynote Address, “Beyond Trauma? Notes on a Word, a Frame, and a Diagnostic Category.” Historical Trauma and Memory: Living with the Haunting Power of the Past is based on essays presented at a conference with the same name which was held in Kigali, Rwanda in April 2019. The book gives readers front row seats as an interdisciplinary group of scholars from law, psychology, history, the arts, anthropology, theology, and philosophy address the complex matrix of the emotional legacies of historical trauma, cultural legacies, people interacting with their social and political environment, and the interplay of these factors in different post-conflict societies.

Why do so many people feel part of something bigger than themselves when they sing with others? How does listening to people sing, especially in certain ritual contexts, give us this same feeling? With this book, singer and scholar Helen Phelan draws on over two decades of musical and educational research to explore the agency of singing in fostering experiences of belonging through ritual performance. Set against the backdrop of “the new Ireland” of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, it charts Ireland’s growing multiculturalism, changing patterns of migration, the diminishing influence of Catholicism, and synergies between local and global forms of cultural expression in its investigation of rights and rites of belonging. Richly autobiographical and autoethnographic, it examines a range of religious, educational, civic, and community-based rituals, including religious rituals of new migrant communities in “borrowed” rituals spaces; baptismal rituals in the context of the Irish citizenship referendum; rituals that mythologize the core values of an educational institution; a ritual laboratory for students of singing; and community-based festivals and performances. These close to the ground narratives peel back the physiological, emotional, and cultural layers of singing to investigate how it functions as a potential agent of belonging. Each chapter engages theoretically with one of five core characteristic of singing (resonance, somatics, performance, temporality, and tacitness) anchored in ethnographic descriptions of performed rituals. In doing so, it builds a persuasive theory of ritually framed singing as a potent tool in the creation of inclusive communities of belonging.

Hookworms on occasion cause creeping lesions in the superficial layers of the human skin that have been designated as cutaneous larva migrans for the purpose of contrasting the condition with visceral larva migrans. Currently, the disease is presenting most commonly to physicians specializing in tropical or travel medicine in patients who have just visited a tropical beach and are presenting with serpiginous tracks in their skin. The serpiginous tracts can persist for week, and are often pruritic, may be associated with accompanying bulla, and can rarely lead to secondary sequelae. The larval are likely to penetrate ultimately to deeper tissues, where they may be persisting in the tissues of humans in the same fashion as they would within the tissues of any other vertebrate paratenic host.Most hookworm larvae are capable of penetrating the skin and causing lesions that are similar to cutaneous larvae migrans. However, the geographic distribution of cases still seems to suggest that only one species, A. braziliense, is the offending species. The other species appear to spend less time in the skin of the human host, and if they do cause lesions, they appear to produce lesions that are more vesicular or that cause disease of a markedly shorter duration. It seems that the development of improved molecular methods will ultimately lead to the means of more carefully discrimination the geographical location of the offending species and may someday be able to identify specific larvae from lesions.There are other manifestations of zoonotic hookworm infection. These include the infection of the human intestinal tract with the adults of the canine/feline hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum; the induction of cases of eosinophilic colitis in people with the canine hookworm, Ancylostoma caninum; suspected cases of ocular larva migrans due to hookworm larvae, and the rare case of cutaneous larva migrans due to hookworm species that are only rarely associated with human infections.

The relationship of the Swiss population to the forest has been investigated in surveys since 1978, and in 1997 for the first time as part of the so-called “Sociocultural forest monitoring” or “Waldmonitoring soziokulturell” WaMos. This report describes the results of the national Wa- Mos3 survey 2020. The online panel of the market research institute LINK was used for the sur- vey. In addition to the representative survey of the adult population, a sample of 156 adolescents was also interviewed. The self-assessed level of information on forest topics has declined since WaMos2 (2010), with older people feeling better informed than younger people. The level of knowledge regarding the increase in forest area in Switzerland and the management of mountain forests for protection against natural hazards is also lower among younger people than among older ones. Today, the population attributes greater importance to most forest functions for society than in WaMos2. In particular, the ecological function, the production function and the recreational function have gained importance. More people than in WaMos2 (2010) assume that forest health has deteriorated. Changes due to climate change, such as drought damage, are perceived by the population. The majority of the population is in favour of active forest management for climate adaptation. With regard to the ecological function of the forest, most people know that biodiversity has decreased. Accor- dingly, the acceptance of forest reserves is high, as is that of large carnivores. Climate change, the expansion of settlements, introduced animal and plant species and pests are seen as the greatest threats to the forest. Great importance is attached to the protective function of the forest. Nevertheless, knowledge about the interrelation between the management and the pro- tective function of mountain forests is declining. In principle, the population is satisfied with the management of the most frequently visited forest. The felling of trees and closing of roads for logging are well accepted by the population. Leaving branches lying on the ground after logging is controversial, and is either well accepted or not accepted at all. Sustainability criteria have gained in importance when purchasing timber products. In terms of forest preferences, the population likes mixed forests best. The presence of a shrub layer is better liked than in WaMos2 (2010) and the liking of deadwood is also increasing at a low level. However, recreational infrastructure is valued less and less. For the first time, forest photos were also presented to the respondents for assessment. It turns out that already existing forest preferences, motives for visiting the forest, the importance of the forest in childhood and the language region have an influence on visual attractiveness of forest. Forest characteristics such as visibility range, shrub layer cover and cover of berry bushes, stage of stand development, stand structure and the presence of deadwood also have an influence. In order to get a picture of which forests people visit, they were asked to mark the forest they visit most often on a map using PPGIS. Local recreation dominates; the densest cloud of points is found where Switzerland is most densely populated. As always, most people go to the forest frequently. The most frequently cited motives for visiting the forest are “experiencing nature”, “enjoying fresh air” and “escaping from everyday life”. Adolescents go to the forest less often. Their activities in the forest are dominated by barbecues/bonfires/parties, jogging and sports in general. Satisfaction with forest visits has decreased at a high level compared to 2010. Forest attractiveness is rated lower, the visit to the forest is perceived as less restorative and the per- ceived disturbances are increasing. In sum, the Swiss population highly values the forest, as a recreational area, but also in particu- lar as a habitat for plants and animals. Ecological awareness seems to have risen again in the last 10 years, and with it concerns about the state of the forest and biodiversity. On the other hand, satisfaction with forest recreation – at a high level – has somewhat declined.

The aim of the study was to determine the influence of different disturbances (both natural and anthropogenic) on species composition and stand structure of old-growth mixed mountain forests in the Western Carpathians. These stands are usually dominated by beech, fir and spruce, mixed in different proportions. The tree main species represent different growth strategies, and they compete against each other. The longevity of trees makes the factors influencing the stand structure difficult to identify, even during longitudinal studies conducted on permanent research plots. That is why dendroecological techniques, based upon the annual variability of tree rings, are commonly used to analyze the disturbance histories of old-growth stands. Dendroecological methods make it possible to reconstruct the stand history over several centuries in the past by analyzing the frequency, intensity, duration and spatial scale of disturbances causing the death of trees. Combining the dendroecological techniques with the detailed measurements of stand structure, snag volume, CWD volume, and the analyses of regeneration species composition and structure allows us to identify the factors responsible for the changes in dynamics of mixed mountain forests. Various disturbance agents affect some species selectively, while some disturbances promote the establishment of tree seedlings of specific species by modifying environmental conditions. Describing the disturbance regime requires a broad scope of data on stand structure, on dead wood and tree regeneration, while various factors affecting all the stages of tree growth should be taken into consideration. On the basis of the already published data from permanent sample plots, combined with the available disturbance history analyses from the Western Carpathians, three research hypotheses were formulated. 1. The species composition of mixed mountain forests has been changing for at least several decades. These directional changes are the consequence of simultaneous conifer species decline and expansion of beech. 2. The observed changes in species composition of mixed mountain forests are the effect of indirect anthropogenic influences, significantly changing tree growth conditions also in the forests that are usually considered natural or near-natural. Cumulative impact of these indirect influences leads to the decrease of fir share in the tree layer (spruce decline has also been observed recently),and it limits the representation of this species among seedlings and saplings. The final effect is the decrease of fir and spruce share in the forest stands. 3. Small disturbances, killing single trees or small groups of trees, and infrequent disturbances of medium size and intensity dominate the disturbance regime in mixed mountain forests. The present structure of beech-fir-spruce forests is shaped both by complex disturbance regime and indirect anthropogenic influences. The data were gathered in permanent sample plots in strictly protected areas of Babia Góra, Gorce, and Tatra National Parks, situated in the Western Carpathians. All plots were located in the old-growth forest stands representing Carpathian beech forest community. The results of the measurements of trees, snags, coarse woody debris (CWD) and tree regeneration were used for detailed description of changes in the species composition and structure of tree stands. Tree ring widths derived from increment cores were used to reconstruct the historical changes in tree growth trends of all main tree species, as well as the stand disturbance history within the past two to three hundred years. The analyses revealed complex disturbance history in all of the three forest stands. Intermediate disturbances of variable intensity occurred, frequently separated by the periods of low tree mortality lasting from several decades up to over one hundred years. The intervals between the disturbances were significantly shorter than the expected length of forest developmental cycle, in commonly used theories describing the dynamics of old-growth stands. During intermediate disturbances up to several dozen percent of canopy trees were killed. There were no signs of stand-replacing disturbances, killing all or nearly all of canopy trees. The periods of intense tree mortality were followed by subsequent periods of increased sapling recruitment. Variability in disturbance intensity is one of the mechanisms promoting the coexistence of beech and conifer species in mixed forests. The recruitment of conifer saplings depended on the presence of larger gaps, resulting from intermediate disturbances, while beech was more successful in the periods of low mortality. However, in the last few decades, beech seems to benefit from the period of intense fir mortality. This change results from the influence of long-term anthropogenic disturbances, affecting natural mechanisms that maintain the coexistence of different tree species and change natural disturbance regimes. Indirect anthropogenic influence on tree growth was clearly visible in the gradual decrease of fir increments in the twentieth century, resulting from the high level of air pollution in Europe. Synchronous decreases of fir tree rings’ widths were observed in all three of the sample plots, but the final outcomes depended on the fir age. In most cases, the damage to the foliage limited the competitive abilities of fir, but it did not cause a widespread increase in tree mortality, except for the oldest firs in the BGNP (Babia Góra National Park) plot. BGNP is located in the proximity of industrial agglomeration of Upper Silesia, and it could be exposed to higher level of air pollution than the other two plots. High level of fir regeneration browsing due to the deer overabundance and insufficient number of predators is the second clear indication of the indirect anthropogenic influence on mixed mountain forests. Game impact on fir regeneration is the most pronounced in Babia Góra forests, where fir was almost completely eliminated from the saplings. Deer browsing seems to be the main factor responsible for limiting the number of fir saplings and young fir trees, while the representation of fir among seedlings is high. The experiments conducted in fenced plots located in the mixed forests in BGNP proved that fir and sycamore were the most preferred by deer species among seedlings and saplings. In GNP (Gorce National Park) and TNP (Tatra National Park), the changes in species composition of tree regeneration are similar, but single firs or even small groups of firs are present among saplings. It seems that all of the analysed mixed beech-fir-spruce forests undergo directional changes, causing a systematic decrease in fir representation, and the expansion of beech. This tendency results from the indirect anthropogenic impact, past and present. Fir regeneration decline, alongside with the high level of spruce trees’ mortality in recent years, may lead to a significant decrease in conifers representation in the near future, and to the expansion of beech forests at the cost of mixed ones.

The aim of the paper was to determine the influence of root systems of chosen tree species found in the Polish Flysch Carpathians on the increase of soil shear strength (root cohesion) in terms of slope stability. The paper's goal was achieved through comprehensive tests on root systems of eight relatively common in the Polish Flysch Carpathians tree species. The tests that were carried out included field work, laboratory work and analytical calculations. As part of the field work, the root area ratio (A IA) of the roots was determined using the method of profiling the walls of the trench at a distance of about 1.0 m from the tree trunk. The width of the. trenches was about 1.0 m, and their depth depended on the ground conditions and ranged from 0.6 to 1.0 m below the ground level. After preparing the walls of the trench, the profile was divided into vertical layers with a height of 0.1 m, within which root diameters were measured. Roots with diameters from 1 to 10 mm were taken into consideration in root area ratio calculations in accordance with the generally accepted methodology for this type of tests. These measurements were made in Biegnik (silver fir), Ropica Polska (silver birch, black locust) and Szymbark (silver birch, European beech, European hornbeam, silver fir, sycamore maple, Scots pine, European spruce) located near Gorlice (The Low Beskids) in areas with unplanned forest management. In case of each tested tree species the samples of roots were taken, transported to the laboratory and then saturated with water for at least one day. Before testing the samples were obtained from the water and stretched in a. tensile testing machine in order to determine their tensile strength and flexibility. In general, over 2200 root samples were tested. The results of tests on root area ratio of root systems and their tensile strength were used to determine the value of increase in shear strength of the soils, called root cohesion. To this purpose a classic Wu-Waldron calculation model was used as well as two types of bundle models, the so called static model (Fiber Bundle Model — FIRM, FBM2, FBM3) and the deformation model (Root Bundle Model— RBM1, RBM2, mRBM1) that differ in terms of the assumptions concerning the way the tensile force is distributed to the roots as well as the range of parameters taken into account during calculations. The stability analysis of 8 landslides in forest areas of Cicikowicleie and Wignickie Foothills was a form of verification of relevance of the obtained calculation results. The results of tests on root area ratio in the profile showed that, as expected, the number of roots in the soil profile and their ApIA values are very variable. It was shown that the values of the root area ratio of the tested tree species with a diameter 1-10 ram are a maximum of 0.8% close to the surface of the ground and they decrease along with the depth reaching the values at least one order of magnitude lower than close to the surface at the depth 0.5-1.0 m below the ground level. Average values of the root area ratio within the soil profile were from 0.05 to 0.13% adequately for Scots pine and European beech. The measured values of the root area ratio are relatively low in relation to the values of this parameter given in literature, which is probably connected with great cohesiveness of the soils and the fact that there were a lot of rock fragments in the soil, where the tests were carried out. Calculation results of the Gale-Grigal function indicate that a distribution of roots in the soil profile is similar for the tested species, apart from the silver fir from Bie§nik and European hornbeam. Considering the number of roots, their distribution in the soil profile and the root area ratio it appears that — considering slope stability — the root systems of European beech and black locust are the most optimal, which coincides with tests results given in literature. The results of tensile strength tests showed that the roots of the tested tree species have different tensile strength. The roots of European beech and European hornbeam had high tensile strength, whereas the roots of conifers and silver birch in deciduous trees — low. The analysis of test results also showed that the roots of the studied tree species are characterized by high variability of mechanical properties. The values Of shear strength increase are mainly related to the number and size (diameter) of the roots in the soil profile as well as their tensile strength and pullout resistance, although they can also result from the used calculation method (calculation model). The tests showed that the distribution of roots in the soil and their tensile strength are characterized by large variability, which allows the conclusion that using typical geotechnical calculations, which take into consideration the role of root systems is exposed to a high risk of overestimating their influence on the soil reinforcement. hence, while determining or assuming the increase in shear strength of soil reinforced with roots (root cohesion) for design calculations, a conservative (careful) approach that includes the most unfavourable values of this parameter should be used. Tests showed that the values of shear strength increase of the soil reinforced with roots calculated using Wu-Waldron model in extreme cases are three times higher than the values calculated using bundle models. In general, the most conservative calculation results of the shear strength increase were obtained using deformation bundle models: RBM2 (RBMw) or mRBM1. RBM2 model considers the variability of strength characteristics of soils described by Weibull survival function and in most cases gives the lowest values of the shear strength increase, which usually constitute 50% of the values of shear strength increase determined using classic Wu-Waldron model. Whereas the second model (mRBM1.) considers averaged values of roots strength parameters as well as the possibility that two main mechanism of destruction of a root bundle - rupture and pulling out - can occur at the same. time. The values of shear strength increase calculated using this model were the lowest in case of beech and hornbeam roots, which had high tensile strength. It indicates that in the surface part of the profile (down to 0.2 m below the ground level), primarily in case of deciduous trees, the main mechanism of failure of the root bundle will be pulling out. However, this model requires the knowledge of a much greater number of geometrical parameters of roots and geotechnical parameters of soil, and additionally it is very sensitive to input data. Therefore, it seems practical to use the RBM2 model to assess the influence of roots on the soil shear strength increase, and in order to obtain safe results of calculations in the surface part of the profile, the Weibull shape coefficient equal to 1.0 can be assumed. On the other hand, the Wu-Waldron model can be used for the initial assessment of the shear strength increase of soil reinforced with roots in the situation, where the deformation properties of the root system and its interaction with the soil are not considered, although the values of the shear strength increase calculated using this model should be corrected and reduced by half. Test results indicate that in terms of slope stability the root systems of beech and hornbeam have the most favourable properties - their maximum effect of soil reinforcement in the profile to the depth of 0.5 m does not usually exceed 30 kPa, and to the depth of 1 m - 20 kPa. The root systems of conifers have the least impact on the slope reinforcement, usually increasing the soil shear strength by less than 5 kPa. These values coincide to a large extent with the range of shear strength increase obtained from the direct shear test as well as results of stability analysis given in literature and carried out as part of this work. The analysis of the literature indicates that the methods of measuring tree's root systems as well as their interpretation are very different, which often limits the possibilities of comparing test results. This indicates the need to systematize this type of tests and for this purpose a root distribution model (RDM) can be used, which can be integrated with any deformation bundle model (RBM). A combination of these two calculation models allows the range of soil reinforcement around trees to be determined and this information might be used in practice, while planning bioengineering procedures in areas exposed to surface mass movements. The functionality of this solution can be increased by considering the dynamics of plant develop¬ment in the calculations. This, however, requires conducting this type of research in order to obtain more data.

Bones are multifunctional passive organs of movement that supports soft tissue and directly attached muscles. They also protect internal organs and are a reserve of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. Each bone is covered with periosteum, and the adjacent bone surfaces are covered by articular cartilage. Histologically, the bone is an organ composed of many different tissues. The main component is bone tissue (cortical and spongy) composed of a set of bone cells and intercellular substance (mineral and organic), it also contains fat, hematopoietic (bone marrow) and cartilaginous tissue. Bones are a tissue that even in adult life retains the ability to change shape and structure depending on changes in their mechanical and hormonal environment, as well as self-renewal and repair capabilities. This process is called bone turnover. The basic processes of bone turnover are: • bone modeling (incessantly changes in bone shape during individual growth) following resorption and tissue formation at various locations (e.g. bone marrow formation) to increase mass and skeletal morphology. This process occurs in the bones of growing individuals and stops after reaching puberty • bone remodeling (processes involve in maintaining bone tissue by resorbing and replacing old bone tissue with new tissue in the same place, e.g. repairing micro fractures). It is a process involving the removal and internal remodeling of existing bone and is responsible for maintaining tissue mass and architecture of mature bones. Bone turnover is regulated by two types of transformation: • osteoclastogenesis, i.e. formation of cells responsible for bone resorption • osteoblastogenesis, i.e. formation of cells responsible for bone formation (bone matrix synthesis and mineralization) Bone maturity can be defined as the completion of basic structural development and mineralization leading to maximum mass and optimal mechanical strength. The highest rate of increase in pig bone mass is observed in the first twelve weeks after birth. This period of growth is considered crucial for optimizing the growth of the skeleton of pigs, because the degree of bone mineralization in later life stages (adulthood) depends largely on the amount of bone minerals accumulated in the early stages of their growth. The development of the technique allows to determine the condition of the skeletal system (or individual bones) in living animals by methods used in human medicine, or after their slaughter. For in vivo determination of bone properties, Abstract 10 double energy X-ray absorptiometry or computed tomography scanning techniques are used. Both methods allow the quantification of mineral content and bone mineral density. The most important property from a practical point of view is the bone’s bending strength, which is directly determined by the maximum bending force. The most important factors affecting bone strength are: • age (growth period), • gender and the associated hormonal balance, • genotype and modification of genes responsible for bone growth • chemical composition of the body (protein and fat content, and the proportion between these components), • physical activity and related bone load, • nutritional factors: – protein intake influencing synthesis of organic matrix of bone, – content of minerals in the feed (CA, P, Zn, Ca/P, Mg, Mn, Na, Cl, K, Cu ratio) influencing synthesis of the inorganic matrix of bone, – mineral/protein ratio in the diet (Ca/protein, P/protein, Zn/protein) – feed energy concentration, – energy source (content of saturated fatty acids - SFA, content of polyun saturated fatty acids - PUFA, in particular ALA, EPA, DPA, DHA), – feed additives, in particular: enzymes (e.g. phytase releasing of minerals bounded in phytin complexes), probiotics and prebiotics (e.g. inulin improving the function of the digestive tract by increasing absorption of nutrients), – vitamin content that regulate metabolism and biochemical changes occurring in bone tissue (e.g. vitamin D3, B6, C and K). This study was based on the results of research experiments from available literature, and studies on growing pigs carried out at the Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences. The tests were performed in total on 300 pigs of Duroc, Pietrain, Puławska breeds, line 990 and hybrids (Great White × Duroc, Great White × Landrace), PIC pigs, slaughtered at different body weight during the growth period from 15 to 130 kg. Bones for biomechanical tests were collected after slaughter from each pig. Their length, mass and volume were determined. Based on these measurements, the specific weight (density, g/cm3) was calculated. Then each bone was cut in the middle of the shaft and the outer and inner diameters were measured both horizontally and vertically. Based on these measurements, the following indicators were calculated: • cortical thickness, • cortical surface, • cortical index. Abstract 11 Bone strength was tested by a three-point bending test. The obtained data enabled the determination of: • bending force (the magnitude of the maximum force at which disintegration and disruption of bone structure occurs), • strength (the amount of maximum force needed to break/crack of bone), • stiffness (quotient of the force acting on the bone and the amount of displacement occurring under the influence of this force). Investigation of changes in physical and biomechanical features of bones during growth was performed on pigs of the synthetic 990 line growing from 15 to 130 kg body weight. The animals were slaughtered successively at a body weight of 15, 30, 40, 50, 70, 90, 110 and 130 kg. After slaughter, the following bones were separated from the right half-carcass: humerus, 3rd and 4th metatarsal bone, femur, tibia and fibula as well as 3rd and 4th metatarsal bone. The features of bones were determined using methods described in the methodology. Describing bone growth with the Gompertz equation, it was found that the earliest slowdown of bone growth curve was observed for metacarpal and metatarsal bones. This means that these bones matured the most quickly. The established data also indicate that the rib is the slowest maturing bone. The femur, humerus, tibia and fibula were between the values of these features for the metatarsal, metacarpal and rib bones. The rate of increase in bone mass and length differed significantly between the examined bones, but in all cases it was lower (coefficient b <1) than the growth rate of the whole body of the animal. The fastest growth rate was estimated for the rib mass (coefficient b = 0.93). Among the long bones, the humerus (coefficient b = 0.81) was characterized by the fastest rate of weight gain, however femur the smallest (coefficient b = 0.71). The lowest rate of bone mass increase was observed in the foot bones, with the metacarpal bones having a slightly higher value of coefficient b than the metatarsal bones (0.67 vs 0.62). The third bone had a lower growth rate than the fourth bone, regardless of whether they were metatarsal or metacarpal. The value of the bending force increased as the animals grew. Regardless of the growth point tested, the highest values were observed for the humerus, tibia and femur, smaller for the metatarsal and metacarpal bone, and the lowest for the fibula and rib. The rate of change in the value of this indicator increased at a similar rate as the body weight changes of the animals in the case of the fibula and the fourth metacarpal bone (b value = 0.98), and more slowly in the case of the metatarsal bone, the third metacarpal bone, and the tibia bone (values of the b ratio 0.81–0.85), and the slowest femur, humerus and rib (value of b = 0.60–0.66). Bone stiffness increased as animals grew. Regardless of the growth point tested, the highest values were observed for the humerus, tibia and femur, smaller for the metatarsal and metacarpal bone, and the lowest for the fibula and rib. Abstract 12 The rate of change in the value of this indicator changed at a faster rate than the increase in weight of pigs in the case of metacarpal and metatarsal bones (coefficient b = 1.01–1.22), slightly slower in the case of fibula (coefficient b = 0.92), definitely slower in the case of the tibia (b = 0.73), ribs (b = 0.66), femur (b = 0.59) and humerus (b = 0.50). Bone strength increased as animals grew. Regardless of the growth point tested, bone strength was as follows femur > tibia > humerus > 4 metacarpal> 3 metacarpal> 3 metatarsal > 4 metatarsal > rib> fibula. The rate of increase in strength of all examined bones was greater than the rate of weight gain of pigs (value of the coefficient b = 2.04–3.26). As the animals grew, the bone density increased. However, the growth rate of this indicator for the majority of bones was slower than the rate of weight gain (the value of the coefficient b ranged from 0.37 – humerus to 0.84 – fibula). The exception was the rib, whose density increased at a similar pace increasing the body weight of animals (value of the coefficient b = 0.97). The study on the influence of the breed and the feeding intensity on bone characteristics (physical and biomechanical) was performed on pigs of the breeds Duroc, Pietrain, and synthetic 990 during a growth period of 15 to 70 kg body weight. Animals were fed ad libitum or dosed system. After slaughter at a body weight of 70 kg, three bones were taken from the right half-carcass: femur, three metatarsal, and three metacarpal and subjected to the determinations described in the methodology. The weight of bones of animals fed aa libitum was significantly lower than in pigs fed restrictively All bones of Duroc breed were significantly heavier and longer than Pietrain and 990 pig bones. The average values of bending force for the examined bones took the following order: III metatarsal bone (63.5 kg) <III metacarpal bone (77.9 kg) <femur (271.5 kg). The feeding system and breed of pigs had no significant effect on the value of this indicator. The average values of the bones strength took the following order: III metatarsal bone (92.6 kg) <III metacarpal (107.2 kg) <femur (353.1 kg). Feeding intensity and breed of animals had no significant effect on the value of this feature of the bones tested. The average bone density took the following order: femur (1.23 g/cm3) <III metatarsal bone (1.26 g/cm3) <III metacarpal bone (1.34 g / cm3). The density of bones of animals fed aa libitum was higher (P<0.01) than in animals fed with a dosing system. The density of examined bones within the breeds took the following order: Pietrain race> line 990> Duroc race. The differences between the “extreme” breeds were: 7.2% (III metatarsal bone), 8.3% (III metacarpal bone), 8.4% (femur). Abstract 13 The average bone stiffness took the following order: III metatarsal bone (35.1 kg/mm) <III metacarpus (41.5 kg/mm) <femur (60.5 kg/mm). This indicator did not differ between the groups of pigs fed at different intensity, except for the metacarpal bone, which was more stiffer in pigs fed aa libitum (P<0.05). The femur of animals fed ad libitum showed a tendency (P<0.09) to be more stiffer and a force of 4.5 kg required for its displacement by 1 mm. Breed differences in stiffness were found for the femur (P <0.05) and III metacarpal bone (P <0.05). For femur, the highest value of this indicator was found in Pietrain pigs (64.5 kg/mm), lower in pigs of 990 line (61.6 kg/mm) and the lowest in Duroc pigs (55.3 kg/mm). In turn, the 3rd metacarpal bone of Duroc and Pietrain pigs had similar stiffness (39.0 and 40.0 kg/mm respectively) and was smaller than that of line 990 pigs (45.4 kg/mm). The thickness of the cortical bone layer took the following order: III metatarsal bone (2.25 mm) <III metacarpal bone (2.41 mm) <femur (5.12 mm). The feeding system did not affect this indicator. Breed differences (P <0.05) for this trait were found only for the femur bone: Duroc (5.42 mm)> line 990 (5.13 mm)> Pietrain (4.81 mm). The cross sectional area of the examined bones was arranged in the following order: III metatarsal bone (84 mm2) <III metacarpal bone (90 mm2) <femur (286 mm2). The feeding system had no effect on the value of this bone trait, with the exception of the femur, which in animals fed the dosing system was 4.7% higher (P<0.05) than in pigs fed ad libitum. Breed differences (P<0.01) in the coross sectional area were found only in femur and III metatarsal bone. The value of this indicator was the highest in Duroc pigs, lower in 990 animals and the lowest in Pietrain pigs. The cortical index of individual bones was in the following order: III metatarsal bone (31.86) <III metacarpal bone (33.86) <femur (44.75). However, its value did not significantly depend on the intensity of feeding or the breed of pigs.