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The novelette Pe strada Mântuleasa ('The Old Man and the Bureaucrats') reveals itself, from the first lecture, as a labyrinth of labyrinths: mythic, narrative, spatial and temporal, linguistic and so on; re-reading it does not diminish the number of labyrinths, but provokes the readers to discover new ones or to create their own labyrinth in which they could stay captive or set themselves free according to their capacity to escape from the meaning and the magic of the text or to go deeper into it, to let themselves be lured by it, grasping as much as they can of "the knots and signs" of Mircea Eliade's text. The paper entitled A Maze of Mazes aims at identifying different types of labyrinth in the novelette Pe strada Mântuleasa ('The Old Man and the Bureaucrats'), emphasizing the fact that it really represents "the most complex of Eliade's narrative texts", as Eugen Simion stated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive investigation of the microstructural evolution during heat treatment and creep exposure of a boron-alloyed 9 wt% Cr steel, with special emphasis on the role of boron was performed. Samples from different stages of the normalizing and tempering heat treatment cycle, as well as creep tested material were investigated by energy filtered and high resolution transmission electron microscopy combined with electron energy loss- and X-ray-spectroscopy. The substitution of carbon by boron in chromium carbides was found only after 50 hours long-term tempering at 780°C and creep exposure at 650°C for 8,971 hours. No enrichment in boron on the particle matrix interface was detected. Nevertheless, formation of boron-rich carbides B0.38C0.62 and BC0.38Si0.04 was already observed after 4 hours of tempering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Living in exile, the majority of the Romanian intellectuals continued abroad their cultural activities. Some of them wrote books, others managed to edit newspapers or magazines and publish the writers' work. Indubitable, one of the most important of such intellectuals was Mircea Eliade. In his first exile, in Paris, he succeeded in unifying the writers, the journalists and editors in a special fight against communism and for promoting the Romanian culture. Besides this activity, his literature or scientific essays were seen always as one of the most important chapter of the periodical he choose to publish in. One of these publications was Luceafărul (1948-1949), the first Romanian literary magazine, edited by Mircea Eliade. Here he contributed with two studies and two short stories as well. This article presents the main ideas of these studies focusing on the most important themes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virgil Ierunca, a Romanian preeminent personality from exile, was not only an important fighter against communism - as he is usually known -, but also a very talented writer. The paper brings into attention this side of his activity, focusing on a particular chapter - the portraits of some great Romanian intellectuals. We bring into evidence Ierunca's special art of describing-in a permanent conjunction - both the character of the man he chose to speak about and his work. As illustrations we give the portraits of three intellectuals from exile, less known to the readers from Romania - Alexandru Busuioceanu, Luc(ian) Bădescu and Mircea Popescu -, and also two famous names - Constantin Brfincu i and Lucian Blaga. Everyone proves the special aptitude of Virgil Ierunca in catching the main features of the person and of his artistic or literary work as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relative rate coefficients have been determined for the gas-phase reaction of hydroxyl (OH) radicals with ethyl methyl sulfide (EMS) using isobutene as a reference compound. The experiments were performed in a 1080 L quartz glass photoreactor in the temperature range of 286-313 K at a total pressure of 760 ± 10 Torr synthetic air using in situ FTIR absorption spectroscopy to monitor the concentration-time behaviors of reactants and products. OH radicals were produced by the 254 nm photolysis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The kinetic data obtained were used to derive the following Arrhenius expression valid in the temperature range of 286-313 K (in units of cm3 molecule-1 s-1): $k = (3.0 \pm 0.6) \times 10^{ - 15} \exp \left[ {{{(2457 \pm 65)} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{(2457 \pm 65)} T}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} T}} \right]$ The rate coefficient displays a negative temperature dependence and low pre-exponential factor which supports the existence of an addition mechanism for the reaction involving reversible OH-adduct formation. The results are compared with previous data of other sulfides from the literature and are rationalized in terms of structure-reactivity relationships. Additionally, product identification of the title reaction was performed for the first time by the FTIR technique under atmospheric conditions. Sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde, and formic acid were observed as degradation products in agreement with the two possible reaction channels (addition/abstraction). Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this material is to highlight the way a Web 2.0 learning environment can be implemented in teaching and learning and to demonstrate how the teaching potential of new technologies can be put to use for learning processes in the knowledge society. Although it can be approached in different ways, in our school the decision regarding the implementation depends on the student's software experience, learning objectives and existing media competence. The information and communication culture of our students and teachers has been enriched due to the participation in a project whose main challenge is creating a platform making use of Web 2.0 tools and allowing the students to realize that learning is becoming a creative activity. The dynamic knowledge society and the lifelong learning educational policy have increased the demand for an e-media-literacy which should be experienced to such an extent that Web 2.0 instruments (wikis, blogs, social networking) are implemented in learning and teaching across the curriculum. Web 2.0 instruments have become relevant as they promote an exchange of knowledge and the development of competencies in networks. An e-learning 2.0-environment implies openness, permeability, participation, motivation which transformed education into a creative, participative and socializing community whose main characteristic is self-organised learning - the adequate strategy for the lifelong learning. Learning requires open learning environments that enable connections and exchanges with other network partners, who will build up productive learning communities. Web 2.0 includes a proliferation of new technologies through which students can explore and create, interacting at all times with their colleagues, friends and community within the framework of self-organised learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the significant topic of the interference between Science-Religion-and Art, this paper focuses on an important chapter of the Romanian literature, that was the literary group promoted by the publication Gandirea (gandirism/orthodoxism or traditionalism). The relation of Man with God expressed in a philosophical meditation in essays (such as Nichifor Crainic's Nostalgia paradisului/ The Nostalgia of the Paradise) or in a lyrical manner (such as Blaga's poetry as well as Crainic's and Voiculescu's poems) is explored starting from a stanza by Nichifor Crainic: Si-nomenea pe Dumnezeu si-ndumenzeia pe om (Turning God in a simple man and turning man in a God). Here, Nichifor Crainic, Blaga or Vasile Voiculescu express - in a lyrical manner - the perennial attempt of Man to decipher the mystery of the world and their literary work asserts that first of all seeking means faith, the assurance of God's existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Living in exile, the majority of the Romanian intellectuals tried to continue abroad their cultural activities. Some of them wrote or published books, others managed to edit newspapers or magazines. The literary magazines became a real method of continuation, maintaining the great culture started in our country between the two world wars, contributing also to preserve the nature of the Romanian identity. Unfortunately, today in Romania, this important activity of our exile is still unknown. This article emphasizes the importance of the Romanian literary press established in exile and focuses on the first literary magazine, Luceafarul, founded in 1948 by Mircea Eliade and Virgil Jerunca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the perspectives of Romanian writers regarding the landscape of the Baragan steppe plains in the south-central part of Romania. It notes that in Alexandru Odobescu's essay "Pseudokynegeticos," he describes the Baragan plain as a beautiful space and a rich territory. The Romanian writer Fanus Neagu writes about the vastness of acacia trees in the Baragan territory. It mentions that the Baragan is also referred to as the country of grains by the Romanian-French writer Panait Istrati in his novel "The Thistles of the Baragan."

Projectile state-selective single-electron capture for impact of slow He2+ (impact energy≤1 keV) on H2, O2 and CO has been studied experimentally by means of translational energy spectroscopy. Comparative measurements were made with a Ne gas target for absolute calibration of the electron capture cross-sections for the molecular targets. We compare the importance of “direct” single-electron capture (transition of one electron only without excitation or dissociation of the ionised target molecule) versus single-electron capture accompanied by target excitation (transfer excitation, possibly leading to molecular dissociation). Our measurements are extended to lower impact energies than earlier ones and are qualitatively interpreted on the basis of Landau–Zener transitions in the collisional quasimolecules. Similar as for direct single-electron capture, transfer excitation proceeds preferentially within a “reaction window” for the involved reaction energy defect. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract. Transmission and distribution lines together with the power transformers produce electromagnetic fields that represent a subject for many controversial issues. A special problem is to evaluate the electric field induced in a human body, when this is exposed to low-frequency magnetic field. In this paper, a 3D human body model is proposed in order to determine the current densities induced by a 50 Hz magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the facilities for the production of Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs) according to the Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) technique, a production target is typically impinged by a high-power primary beam, generating radioactive isotopes for basic research and technological applications. With the aim to guarantee an efficient extraction of the aforementioned isotopes, the production target must work in a high vacuum environment, at temperatures that are usually between 1600 °C and 2200 °C. Its main components are often characterized by intense temperature gradients and consequently by severe thermal stresses. Carbides are widely used for target manufacturing, and in this work a specific method for their thermal and mechanical characterization is presented and discussed. It is based on the comparison between experimental measurements and numerical simulations, with the introduction of the novel Virtual Thermoelastic Parameters approach for the structural verification procedure. High-performance silicon carbides (SiC) are taken as a reference to describe the method. Measured emissivity and thermal conductivity data are presented and discussed, together with the experimental estimation of material limitations for both temperature and stress fields. The aforementioned results can be promptly used for the design process of high-power ISOL targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper presents the development and validation of a new oscillatory component load (OCL) model for a measurement-based real-time estimation of dynamic load model parameters. The proposed OCL model has been derived from a second-order differential equation that considers three necessary components, namely static, exponential recovery, and damped oscillatory components. The performance evaluation of the proposed OCL model has been demonstrated through DIgSILENT PowerFactory-based dynamic power system simulations, real-time substation data captured from phasor measurement units located at the primary substations of Leadenham, Holwell, and Regent Street cities, and real-time transient voltage events data provided by the EirGrid. Further, the effectiveness of the proposed OCL model has been assessed by comparing its performance with that of the existing exponential recovery load model. A new flexible and efficient SynchroHub platform, developed at the University of Manchester for real-time data acquisition, processing and visualization, has been used for the real-time estimation of dynamic load model parameters. The validation results revealed the efficacy of the proposed OCL model in tracking both the first as well as the subsequent oscillations of dynamic load model response of the power system for both the steady state as well as transient operating conditions accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The parameters of the transmission lines are used in several monitoring and control tools of the power system control center. An accurate knowledge of the power system model (including transmission lines impedances) impacts positively the situational awareness of the power system operators. It also improves the protection and corrective measures that may be applied in case of a disturbance. Nevertheless, line parameters that are stored in the control center database are typically subjected to errors, and therefore it is necessary to regularly refine them. The presence of a phasor measurement unit (PMU) at both ends of the transmission line allows the calculation of the transmission line parameters using synchronized current and voltage phasor measurements. Although the use of PMU measurements is a straightforward way to calculate the transmission line parameters, the uncertainty of the synchronized phasor measurements should be incorporated to the calculated transmission line parameter values. In this paper, an analytical expression for the bounds of the calculated transmission line parameters from PMU measurements is derived, considering both instrument transformers and PMU errors. The calculated bounds of uncertainty are evaluated through Monte Carlo simulations, while the importance of knowing the bounds of the calculated line parameters is underlined through the derivation of power–voltage curves considering the lower and upper bounds of the parameters. The simulation results are obtained using the IEEE 14-bus system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Partial reduction of bulk CuAlO2 results in hierarchical structures wherein there are copper‐alumina regions with widely differing morphologies and scale. At the finest level, the distribution of the 2 phases is at the nanoscale. By means of atomic resolution STEM and electron diffraction, the nanocomposite regions were shown to consist of a dense array of metallic copper platelets dispersed in a matrix of θ‐Al2O3. The copper nanoplatelets were single crystal, and they all exhibited the same orientation relationship with the matrix, namely [110]Cu//[010]θ‐Al2O3, (111)Cu//( 4 0 2 ¯)θ‐Al2O3. It was shown that the 2‐phase regions where the copper exhibited a significantly coarser, globular morphology, resulted from discontinuous coarsening. Interestingly, a change in the matrix phase from θ‐ to δ‐alumina was also observed as a result of the coarsening reaction. It is believed that in the nanocomposite regions, the θ‐alumina phase was stabilized by the lower interfacial energy between the copper (110) platelets and the matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Instrumentation and Measurement Society (IMS) members, we are part of a larger community, sharing the IEEE values and endeavoring to shape the future of our profession. However, we live in a complex world where technological borders are hard to trace, keep, or even define. Recognizing this, IEEE strived in the last decade to encourage not only the active participation of its members to the societies' life but also a deeper collaboration across disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Technological developments are pushing for new solutions based upon massive integration of renewable electricity generation in networks already facing many challenges. This paper presents a novel approach to managing the energy transfer towards prosumers making use of smart management of local energy storage. The proposed design (including storage dimensioning) is based on several operating scenarios in which the prosumer might operate as: (i) a "load only" entity (from a grid perspective), thus exhibiting investment resiliency against regulatory changes and high energy efficiency; or (ii) a prosumer, in case regulatory opportunistic profit might be available. This can be realized within a newly proposed Uni-directional Resilient Consumer (UniRCon) architecture. The major aim of the proposed architecture is to achieve optimal self-consumption while avoiding curtailment even in a changing regulatory environment like, for example, the total lack of incentives for generation based on renewable energy sources (RES). One of the major advantages of the proposed architecture consists in the adaptability to changes in the regulatory and market environment. The term resilience is used with multiple meanings: (a) the prosumer's financial resilience against regulatory changes when investment calculations assume no-grid injections; (b) the prosumer's technical resilience, with electrical design based on standalone operation; (c) the resilience of clusters of interconnected end-user installations with enabled community-level electricity exchange, independent of the existing main grid supply; (d) the contribution to grid resilience, by enabling AC microgrid (MG) operation in island mode when large portions of the grid are formed by clusters of UniRCon prosumers (the ease of islanding segmentation of the local grid in case of emergencies). For proof of concept, three use-cases are detailed: (i) photovoltaic (PV) installations connected behind the meter; (ii) PV and storage available and controllable behind the meter; and (iii) the UniRCon architecture. The three use-cases are then compared and assessed for four near-future timelines as starting points for the investment. Numerical simulations show the attractiveness of the UniRCon solution in what concerns both system operation costs and supply resilience. Savings are expressed as opportunity savings arising from difference in tariffs while charging and discharging the storage unit and due to the avoidance of curtailment, as well as special taxes for the connection of PV (depending on regulatory environment). An extension of the UniRCon concept is presented also at community scale, with neighbourhood energy exchange inside a resilient cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]