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In this article I argue that the actual and imaginary presence of America looms large in the letters written to Eleanor Roosevelt by refugee children whom she sponsored through the organisation Foster Parents' Plan for War Children (Plan). In doing so, I historicise the politics of emotion in war by examining how the concept of 'America' provided a positive haven for refugee children who constructed an imaginary 'America' – a place of security and peace – through which they discussed the fragmentation of their lives. When considering the visceral aspects of wartime experience, however, not all children found comfort in the 'American' imaginary. The letters of children such as eight-year-old Rosemary Hayward – who was also observed by psychoanalysts Anna Freud and Dorothy Burlingham – reveal an emotional fragility towards this notion of 'America'. The comfort and plenty of 'America' was not easily appropriated by Hayward as the way in which she experienced family dislocation became pronounced. While the emotional security of the concept of 'America' became the cornerstone of correspondence between financial foster parents and the refugee child, it served to consolidate this exchange and the politics within it, leaving the scars of family disruption and violence in war painfully unresolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reconcile the standard possible worlds model of knowledge with the intuition that ordinary agents fall far short of logical omniscience, a Stalnakerian strategy appeals to two components. The first is the idea that mathematical and logical knowledge is at bottom metalinguistic knowledge. The second is the idea that non-ideal minds are often fragmented. In this paper, we investigate this Stalnakerian reconciliation strategy and argue, ultimately, that it fails. We are not the first to complain about the Stalnakerian strategy. But in contrast to existing complaints, we want to cause trouble for the strategy directly on its home turf. That is, we will advance our objection while granting both the plausibility of the fragmentation component—save for an extreme version of it—and that of the metalinguistic component. Once our central objection to the Stalnakerian strategy is in place, we will show how it negatively affects Adam Elga and Augustín Rayo's recent attempt to apply the Stalnakerian strategy in the context of Bayesian decision theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple finite element implementation of the Mott model for fragmentation of a thin walled ring has been implemented and used to explore the effect of local variations in fracture strain around the ring. The model has successfully reproduced the fragment size distributions previously reported, which follow a characteristic "Mott distribution" form, providing sufficient (1000) simulations are run. It has been shown that this form is retained even when there are large differences in the random distribution of fracture strains or a different choice of function used to describe the fracture strain scatter. In these cases, the strain rate has a much stronger effect than fracture strain distribution the on the average fragment size and fragment distribution. However, for cases where there are a small number of local defects that strongly reduce the fracture strain at certain locations around the ring, the predicted fragment size distribution develops a bimodal character. This is also the case for large but gradual variations in fracture strain with position around the ring. The results have implications for cases where a small number of large pre-existing defects exist, or processing has led to macrozones in the microstructure. The utility of a simple fast running model to study these cases is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the impact of the interplay between narrativity and database logic on the interactor's engagement with interactive digital films. It explores their co-deployment in three recently released works—Late Shift, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Her Story—within a theoretical framework extending Hartmut Koenitz's model of interactive digital narrative. Late Shift and Bandersnatch expose the interactor to relentless narrative progression, as he/she is to decide what action the protagonist should take at various junctures in the plot, culled from the database of multiple potential storylines. By contrast, in Her Story database becomes the surface structure the interactor gains access to: his/her task is to solve the case of a missing man by searching through fragmented video clips from police interviews with his wife. This dominance of database logic paradoxically enhances narrativity by provoking the interactor's hermeneutic desire, while narrative agency Late Shift seemingly ascribes to him/her may attenuate his/her immersion due to its being limited to the choices presupposed within its database structure. Bandersnatch dodges this problem through self-reflexive, performative thematisation of illusory agency, which ties in with the disclosure of the tension between narrative and database as its organisational principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of three selected pieces from a 1991 acquisition documented by both the collector and the museum, it is shown that many of the approximately 60 puppets from Mali within the collection KOLK 17 in Lübeck are presumably set pieces from movable animal puppet stages, a special form of costume puppets that only exists in Mali. It is demonstrated that the terms ascribed to the puppets often do not do justice to the performing objects, since they only describe individual elements and do not take the actual performative action into account. Particularly in the case of those puppets that are animated by the physical movement of the puppet player--as is the case with costume puppets--a fragmentary view of the performing objects leads to an enormous loss of meaning. The complexity of moving animal puppet stages is demonstrated by a presentation of their versatile performance techniques and stage contexts. How the puppets from Mali within the collection KOLK 17 were actually played could not be conclusively clarified. Nevertheless, the objects could be extended to include possible contexts of use and meaning: these contexts are essential for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scientific evaluation of landscape fragmentation and connectivity is important for habitat conservation. It is strongly influenced by the spatial resolution of source maps, particularly in urban environments. However, there is limited comprehensive investigation of the spatial grain effect on urban habitat and few in-depth analysis across different urban gradients. In this paper, we scrutinize the spatial grain effects of urban green space (UGS) cover maps (derived from remote sensing imagery and survey data) with respect to evaluating habitat fragmentation and connectivity, comparing among different urban gradient scenarios (downtown, urban periphery, and suburban area) in Hangzhou, a megacity in China. The fragmentation was detected from three indices, including Entropy, Contagion, and Hypsometry. Then morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) was applied for the landscape element identification. The possibility of connectivity (PC) and patch importance (dPC) were proposed for measuring the landscape connectivity based on Cores and Bridges from MSPA results. The results indicate that the farther the location is from downtown, the less sensitive the landscape element proportion to the spatial resolution. Among the three fragmentation indices, the overall hypsometry index has the lowest sensitivity to the spatial resolution, which implies this index’s broader application value. Considering connectivity, high spatial resolution maps are appropriate for analyzing highly heterogeneous urban areas, while medium spatial resolution maps are more applicable to urban periphery and suburban area with larger UGS patches and less fragmentation. This study suggests that the spatial resolution of UGS maps substantially influence habitat fragmentation and connectivity, which is critical for decision making in urban planning and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines a forward-deployed US Army unit in Eastern Europe. Drawing from military sociology, the theoretical framework used to study this unit focused primarily on factors of boredom and the fragmentation model of organizational culture. The methodological approach was mixed, including interviews and participant and non-participant observations of the deployed soldiers and military civilians. The research explored unit members’ perceptions about unit leadership, quality of life, communication with loved ones, the mission, work roles, interactions with the local foreign military and civilians, and unit diversity. The findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of the relationship between military boredom and fragmentation. Overall, we found some ambiguity regarding some parts of soldiers’ lives—including an unclear understanding regarding the nature of the mission. The study also found low to moderate levels of boredom across five domains: underutilization, cultural deprivation, lack of privacy, isolation, and time and space reorientation. Although in most cases the level of boredom related to perceived ambiguity (less boredom usually meant less perceived ambiguity), in some cases an inverse relationship was identified. We conclude that future studies should determine whether our findings apply to newer forward-deployed contexts in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International institutions such as treaties and organizations shape, and are shaped by, the large web-like architecture of global governance. Yet we know little about what this architecture looks like, why certain structures are observed, and how they are linked to the functioning of international institutions as well as the overall effectiveness of global governance. Over the past decade, network science has emerged as a promising and indispensable approach to unraveling structural nuances and complexities of the system of international institutions. This article presents a state-of-the-art review of this emerging field of research and seeks to stimulate its further development. In this article, I draw connections between various network analyses of global governance that are found in different bodies of literature. In so doing, I integrate three separate but overlapping strands of work on institutional fragmentation, polycentricity, and complexity and bring much-needed conceptual clarity to the debate. Building on previous studies, I propose a framework for operationalizing fragmentation, polycentricity, and complexity in network terms in order to enable systematic and comparative analysis of global governance systems. This article argues that there is much potential in the network approach and makes a case for advancing the "network science of global governance." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article opposes theoretical attempts to explain the Brazilian 2013 cycle of protests by fragmentation. It argues that the plurality of social actors engaged in those protests faced a field of contention deeply framed by autonomist practices, which allowed the aggregation of very different political views in an all‐embracing political phenomenon. In addition, it suggests a broader change in the repertoire of contention that involves elements from the two historical periods discussed by Charles Tilly. Contemporary political contention gathers together the parochial and direct elements of the pre‐social movements era with the broader and cosmopolitan elements of the social movements era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the disoriented affective experience of urban modernity in the Russian imperial metropole: obsessive portrayals, by writers both famous and obscure, of St. Petersburg as a place of alleged power and intense modernity haunted by loss and feeling lost, by fragmentation and decay, by feelings of standing on shifting ground, vague disenchantment, and melancholy. With a mixture of concreteness and intangibility, this was an affective perception embodied in haunting fogs. Fog was a ubiquitous fact in the material city and an inescapable metaphor in the interpreted city. If imperial modernity represented confident knowledge and forward movement, fog represented uncertainty and disorientation, even the unrepresentable. Not least, fog embodied and nurtured anxious feelings about historical time: the experience of the modern as discontinuity, fragmentation, contingency, precarity, instability, and looming disaster. But fog also evoked dreams and possibilities of the unexpected. Fog disrupted epistemological certainties and historical teleologies. Fog disoriented the present and thus the future. As such, fog opened up vague visions of possibility and even a radical other. This essay itself seeks to disorient familiar understandings of St. Petersburg and its famous cultural 'text' to see through its fogs, and in fog itself, not only unstable images of a decaying imperial modern, not only the off-centred experience of that history at the heart of imperial power, but also images of vaguely imagined and unpredictable possibility. As such, this is a story that can reorient how we understand the revolution that began in St. Petersburg in 1917 and shook apart an empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the mining industry, the rock breakage by drilling and blasting plays a vital role as it facilitates not only fragmentation of rock mass but also controls consequent mining operation. In order to increase the production capacity or prolong the life of the deposit, the expansion of mine is unavoidable. However, when the mines are located in close to the habitations or any other sensitive areas, then there is often conflict due to the environmental effects due to blasting in the mines resulting in creating an adverse effect on industrial relation of the mine operator. Apart from maintaining the public relation, it is necessary to satisfy the mandate of the regulatory agencies due to imposition of statutory restrictions on the mine management while the mining operations are carried out in such challenging situations. The society generally expects that the negative impacts will be managed, and the benefits distributed fairly for ensuing sustainable mining. Ground vibration is one of the most environmental effects produced by any blasting operation affecting the structural characteristics of the buildings. Therefore, the proper prediction of blast-induced ground vibrations accommodating the influence of geological changes within the mine is essential to ensure the safety and stability of the structures not belonging to the mine operator during the blasting. This paper presents a case study where the expansion of the limestone quarry for the sustainable mining operations necessitates the usage of precise initiation system and adoption of suitable techniques for managing the other environmental impacts due to blasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results of studies of the explosive expansion of a set of shrapnel discs of natural crushing are described in the article. Set consisted of two disks of different thickness, but of a fixed total mass. The studies were carried out by computer simulation of shock-wave processes in a continuous formulation using the ANSYS/LS-DYNA program. The program of computer design foresees development of three-dimensional certainly-element model including, in accordance with symmetry of the examined system fourth part of the examined explosive system of casting block, with imposed on its knots of the proper scopes terms concerted with taken mixed Lagrangian-Eulerian approach within the framework of the continuum model. The effect of the order of installing disks of different thickness on the distribution of their mass and its velocity in the middle of the meridional angle of expansion is established. The analysis of the computer simulation presented on the basis of numerical studies on the distribution of the mass of the disks and its velocity of motion suggests that to create a narrow high-speed uniformly filled fragmentary mass of the axial flow, it is necessary to change the geometric shape of the disc so that in the central angular zones of the disks. This allows the velocity of the fragment mass to be aligned along the radius of the discs and to fill the first angular zones with the required mass of fragments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For study the energy output law of cylindrical charge with shell induced by different input energies, four different black powder masses were selected to ignite the main charge. Fragmentation degree of the shell was qualitatively analyzed by the area of holes on the witness plate and the recovered fragments mass. Through theoretical analysis, established the functional relationship between the average mass of fragments and the relative energy output of warhead, obtained how the relative energy output of charge changed with different initial energy input. The results showed that the change of input energy could lead to obvious variation in fragment characteristics, and could also control the output of charge. When the igniter mass increases from 1.55 g to 5.00 g, the relative energy output of the charge increases by 26.28%. Excessive initial input energy will destroy the shell confine in advance, resulting in a decrease in the relative energy output of charge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belt and Road initiative is five years old and has resulted in voluminous publications by scholars and policy pundits in many corners of the world. It is by far the most watched foreign policy initiative that the PRC has projected on the world stage. Departing from the standard focus on BRI's external ambition, this article investigates the political dynamics inside the Chinese state, which has driven and will continue to shape the contour and magnitude of the BRI in the future. The article builds a theory of state fragmentation and argues that the Belt and Road is a mobilization campaign by the Communist leadership in order to deal with domestic and diplomatic challenges. Mobilization, however, intensifies fragmentation and results in the decentralized implementation of the BRI that diverges from the rhetoric of the strategy. Lower-level governments and major business groups leverage on the BRI and devise projects and programs that serve their economic interests. On the one hand, economic growth is being revived in the localities; on the other, restructuring and rebalancing of the Chinese economy are delayed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information death story of the journalist and writer, Charles Muller. He was born May 1877 in Elbeuf, France and died on October 1, 1914. He worked as a sergeant and sent to Belgium, Antoing then crossed the border with a regiment reduced to two battalions but died due to a shrapnel hit him in the shoulder.

Stabilization of highwall slope by implementing presplit blasting and productivity enhancement by improving the powder factor using controlled blasting at Sharda project of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. (SECL) was the endeavour of the research team of CSIR-CIMFR in the first trench highwall mining of India. Good fragmentation was achieved through improved rock-explosive interactions and redefined design parameters in the trench which had restricted width and lesser initial powder factor (in m³/kg) due to varying rock-geologic and rock-explosive characteristics. Through systemic analysis of blast-results and implementation of scientific theories combined with the usage of rock parameters and its physico-mechanical properties, it could possible to achieve around 2.0 m³/kg powder factor instead of 1.3-1.4 m³/kg maintaining stable highwall benches with 700or more slope angle. The work led to huge cost benefits in explosive consumption for the company i.e. M/s Cuprum Bagrodia Ltd. and also markedly reduced the environmental implications from production blastsduring day-to-day operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of global environmental governance, a plethora of international regimes have emerged over the past decades. In some issue areas, multiple regimes aim to govern the issue, sometimes reinforcing, oftentimes conflicting with each other. Consequently, international regime complexes are an empirical phenomenon, which are inherently characterized by specific degrees of fragmentation. For any given issue area, one of the key questions is whether the institutional fragmentation encountered in such regime complexes is synergistic or conflictive in nature. Scrutinizing this question poses methodological challenges of how to delineate a regime complex and how to assess its fragmentation. Drawing on the highly fragmented case of the international forest regime complex, this paper aims to map its institutional fragmentation and to analyse the degrees to which it is conflictive or synergistic. For this we conceptualize the notion of institutional elements and develop a novel method for mapping regime complexes based on their core institutional elements. We then employ tools from the sub-discipline of policy analysis on the complex's institutional elements for analysing in detail, which of the elements are mutually synergistic and conflictive with other elements of the regime complex. Our results indicate that synergistic relations mostly exist among rather vague elements, often built around sustainability as a core principle. On the contrary, conflictive relations prevail as soon as the elements are designed in more concrete and substantial ways. We conclude that the forest regime complex displays only degree of seemingly synergistic fragmentation through a number of non-decisions and the use of "sustainability" as an empty formula. De facto, conflictive fragmentation prevails among elements of concrete subject matter. This raises questions on whether vast parts of regime complexes merely serve symbolic functions, while conflicts on substance are being camouflaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Costa and Shrapnel ([ 2016 ]) have recently proposed an interventionist theory of quantum causation. The formalism generalizes the classical methods of Pearl ([ 2000 ]) and allows for the discovery of quantum causal structure via localized interventions. Classical causal structure is presented as a special case of this more general framework. I introduce the account and consider whether this formalism provides a causal explanation for the Bell correlations. 1   Introduction 2   Classical Causal Models 3   What's the (Quantum) Problem? 4   Quantum Causal Models: Why Bother? 5   Markov Quantum Causal Models 6   The Bell Experiment 7   Bell's Objections [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Although ecosystem-based management (EBM) has been adopted by many management organisations in principle, operationalising EBM has been problematic. A mismatch in institutional arrangements, created by the traditional sectoral focus of marine environmental and resource management, may be one factor acting against EBM implementation. To investigate this potential issue, this study focused on 'sectoral interplay', the challenges and tensions that prevent 'whole of government' cooperation, political consensus among conflicting user and interest groups, and collaboration between government and stakeholders that preconditon implementation of EBM. Four key challenges/tensions to sectoral interplay in marine EBM were found, including: governance structures and mechanisms, communication and sharing, participation and exclusion and fragmentation. Several ways in which these challenges/tensions could be addressed are proposed such as creating co-ordinating structures which operate across sectors and clarifying mandates and precedence between decision-making agencies. There are myriad case study examples from which to learn how to manage, and how not to manage, sectoral interplay in marine governance, and this should be the focus of future research. Highlights • Marine EBM is hampered by a mismatch in institutional arrangements. • Challenges include mechanisms, communication, participation and fragmentation. • We must learn how to manage sectoral interplay from existing case examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Theory predicts that movement limitation due to landscape fragmentation can reduce population viability. Understanding how landscape heterogeneity influences movement is thus critical for testing theory and developing conservation strategies. Consequently, studies are needed that link movement data with landscape features influencing dispersal.Objectives: We used experimental translocations to test whether forest fragmentation constrains movements of two fragmentation-sensitive bird species. We also tested for evidence of multiple behavioral movement phases (i.e., exploring, homing) and evaluated whether fragmentation effects varied between them.Methods: Over two breeding seasons we translocated territorial Wood Thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina; n = 36) and Ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla; n = 19) 1-1.2 km across landscapes spanning a fragmentation gradient and recorded spatial (movement path) and temporal (return time) homing data using VHF transmitters and receivers.Results: Ninety-one percent of individuals returned home, taking up to 72.2 h. Movements of 98% of returning birds indicated distinct exploring (i.e., short, undirected movements and course reversals) and homing (i.e., large, fast steps towards home) movement phases. Both species chose steps minimizing gap exposure in both phases. However, landscape fragmentation had no negative effect on homing times or path straightness.Conclusions: Our results suggest movement limitation does not drive fragmentation sensitivity in these species. Discrepancy between step- and path-level analyses either indicate that fine-scale movement data do not reflect landscape connectivity, or that artificially motivated animals respond unnaturally to behavioral barriers. Given evidence for dichotomous movement behavior, future studies linking these behaviors to life stages will elucidate when and how landscape features influence movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlight • Non-uniform simplified model for the fragments from different axial positions of a metal shell is proposed. • New experiment method conducts the quantitative measurements shape feature and size distribution of fragments from the fragmentation of metal shells undergoing the high explosive loading. • The similarity between the fragment perforation contour and the projected contour of fragments was applied. Abstract The investigation of the fragmentation properties along the axis of a metal shell under explosive loading is valuable for understanding the fragment formation principles of a warhead. To investigate the axial fragmentation distribution of a metal shell, herein the fragmentation from different axial positions of a metal shell under single-end detonation conditions was analyzed based on the microelement method. Moreover, a corresponding simplified model for the average fragment mass was established. The fragment distribution characteristics at different axial positions and the internal features from the metal shell fragmentation was analyzed by designing an experiment for fragment segmented recovery and fragment perforation occurring in the fragmentation of a 1045 metal steel cylinder shell filled internally with 8701 high explosives. The similarity between the fragment perforation contour and the projected contour of fragments was applied to verify the accuracy of the simplified model of the fragmentation along the axial direction, which can provide an important reference for the design of warheads and the performance of protective architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents welding conditions and the process of creating a FSW weld during welding elements made of wrought aluminium alloys and cast aluminium alloy. Investigations were conducted at Institute of Welding, Gliwice (Instytut Spawalnictwa), on the FSW stands equipped with vertical milling machine adapted for friction stir welding process. Influence of the tool’s dimension and shapes on the plasticization process of welded material and formation of a weld behind the tool, at different welding set of parameters were studied. During the investigations it was noticed, that forces and torque occuring during FSW and stiffness of the clamping system influence the temperature of the welding area, the plasticity of the material, the particles fragmentation and the quality of the joints. On the basis of research correct welding conditions were selected and process of welding was conduct using specially designed instrumentation. The views of exemplary friction stir welded elements and macrosections from the welding areas are shown. 14 Ref., 4 Tabl., 16 Fig. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents scaling relations of the fragments mass distribution for fragmenting shell with variable thickness subjected to internal explosive loading. Available formulas usually predict the fragmentation law of shell with constant thickness, and there are few sources that describe the fragment mass distribution of shells with variable thickness, which are usually used in the Earth Penetration Warhead (EPW). In the study, shells with variable thickness fragmentation were investigated experimentally, and the fragment mass distribution was obtained by statistical analysis. Furthermore, the semi-empirical scaling relations between the fragments’ mass statistical characteristic value of shells with variable thickness and the physical parameters based on the Mott statistical distribution and Grady formula is proposed by the theoretical analysis and data analysis. The position of the initiation end and the taper of the variable thickness shell are considered in the scaling relations which has wider applicability in the study of the fragments mass distribution of shells with variable thickness subjected to internal explosive loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to adoption of the pelvic protection system (PPS), one of the signature injuries suffered by H.M. Armed Forces who served in Afghanistan was caused by buried improvised explosive devices (IEDs) accelerating secondary fragmentation from the ground environment into the groin, perineum, genitals, buttocks and legs of personnel. In the current work, a test method was developed which considered the combined effects of explosive blast and fragment loading of targets of Tier 2 PPS. The work identified that it is possible to explosively propel fragments of the ground environment into the specimens of Tier 2 PPS and to analyse each specimen. In doing so, a scenario peculiar to the IED threat faced in Afghanistan was able to be replicated. Such work allows insights into injuries suffered and will assist in the development of future protective clothing systems that require dual blast and fragment protective properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

he fragmentation mechanism of the penetrator with lateral effect (PELE) after perforating a thin target plate has been summarised and analysed firstly. Then the fragmentation of radial layered PELE was analysed qualitatively and verified by experiment. In the experiment, the target plates were made of 45# steel and 2A12 aluminium respectively. Qualitative analysis and experimental results show that: for normal PELE without layered, after perforating the thin metal target plate, from the bottom to the head of the projectile, the number of fragments formed by the jacket gradually increases, and the mass of the fragment decreases correspondingly. Compared with the normal PELE without layered, the radial layered PELE is less likely to break into fragments, when impacting the thin metal target plate with the same material and thickness under the same impact velocity. However, from the mechanism of the PELE, when the resistance of the target plate is large enough, and the duration of pressure is long enough, the radial layered PELE also can break into fragments with transverse velocity component. The resistance of the target plate plays an important role in the fragmentation of radial layered PELE. The radial layered PELE produced massive fragments with transverse velocity component when impacting the 45# steel plate with 5 mm thickness under the impact velocity of 657.2 m/s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desired rock fragmentation is the main goal of the blasting operation in surface mines, civil and tunneling works. Therefore, precise prediction of rock fragmentation is very important to achieve an economically successful outcome. The primary objective of this article is to propose a new model for forecasting the rock fragmentation using adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) in combination with particle swarm optimization (PSO). The proposed PSO-ANFIS model has been compared with support vector machines (SVM), ANFIS and nonlinear multiple regression (MR) models. To construct the predictive models, 72 blasting events were investigated, and the values of rock fragmentation as well as five effective parameters on rock fragmentation, i.e., specific charge, stemming, spacing, burden and maximum charge used per delay were measured. Based on several statistical functions [e.g., coefficient of correlation (R2) and root-mean-square error (RMSE)], it was found that the PSO-ANFIS (with R2 = 0.89 and RMSE = 1.31) performs better than the SVM (with R2 = 0.83 and RMSE = 1.66), ANFIS (with R2 = 0.81 and RMSE = 1.78) and nonlinear MR (with R2 = 0.57 and RMSE = 3.93) models. Finally, the sensitivity analysis shows that the burden and maximum charge used per delay have the least and the most effects on the rock fragmentation, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fragment velocity is an important parameter for fragmentation warheads, but for an asymmetrically initiated warhead, formulas for calculating the fragment velocity in the aiming direction are rare. In this work, new formulas for calculating fragment velocities in the aiming direction and the initiation side of an asymmetrically initiated warhead were established by taking the long element from the warhead section and applying one‐dimensional gas dynamics. Accounting for the assumptions made during the formulas establishing, three experimentally verified warheads modelling of different charge ratios were used to verify the formulas. It is found that the velocity ratios of the modelling to the formulas’ calculations of different warheads are very similar. Hence the fitted curves for the velocity ratios versus the warhead charge ratios were used as correction factors for the established formulas. Finally experiments were designed and conducted to validate the revised formulas, which shows acceptable relative errors of 2.8 % and 9.9 %, better than already existing formulas. The established formulas could be a good reference for the damage evaluation of aimable warheads and for fragment velocity distribution research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blast injuries affect millions of lives across the globe due to its traumatic after effects on the brain and the whole body. To date, military grade armour materials are designed to mitigate ballistic and shrapnel attacks but are less effective in resisting blast impacts. In order to improve blast absorption characteristics of armours, the first key step is thoroughly understands the effects of blasts on the human body itself. In the last decade, a plethora of experimental and computational work has been carried out to investigate the mechanics and pathophysiology of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). However, very few attempts have been made so far to study the effect of blasts on the various other parts of the body such as the sensory organs (eyes and ears), nervous system, thorax, extremities, internal organs (such as the lungs) and the skeletal system. While an experimental evaluation of blast effects on such physiological systems is difficult, developing finite element (FE) models could allow the recreation of realistic blast scenarios on full scale human models and simulate the effects. The current article reviews the state-of-the-art in computational research in blast induced whole-body injury modelling, which would not only help in identifying the areas in which further research is required, but would also be indispensable for understanding body location specific armour design criteria for improved blast injury mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the end of World War One, only few research is performed to understand the extent of the destruction of the first meters of soil archive at the former Belgian front zone. The only existing sources identifying the by artillery destroyed landscape are maps indicating destruction at the level of administrative communities, based on war damage inventories. Even a century after the war, there is a need to gain more detail in the historical destruction at a landscape or parcel scale. Unlike in neighboring country France, the Belgian authorities allowed a complete repopulation of the front zone, which results in an ongoing confrontation between ground workers (farmers, construction workers, archaeologists, etc.), the war's heritage (trenches, bunkers, graves, etc.) and its dangers (unexploded ordnances, UXO). Metal shrapnel and the high rate of unexploded shells (up to 30% of the fired projectiles) are typical remnants of this trench warfare. The localization of these phenomena is also useful to simulate the extent of the war's environmental impact and the intensity of possible UXO-finds. To inventorize destruction and the related metal shrapnel pollution (MSP), we propose a new mapping method based on a sampling strategy to digitize shelling densities, derived from historical aerial photographs. This data source allows us to characterize almost every single parcel in this mainly agricultural area. By classifying the derived shelling densities, destruction classes can be distinguished to describe the impact on landscape and soil archive. The translation of the destruction map into a map indicating the level of buried metal shrapnel, was possible due to the direct relation between shells, metal shrapnel and shell holes. A validation with the buried metal objects was performed with metal parameters derived from electromagnetic induction field surveys. These scan results indicated a strong relation between shelling densities and the buried metal clutter. Based on the findings in this research, we offer tools to create an accurate destruction map that can be directly related to the occurrence of WW1 relicts within the soil archive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pipe bombs of steel or PVC fragment in reproducible patterns when similarly configured. The power of the explosion correlates with number, mass, and size of the fragments recovered, where a large number of small, low-mass fragments indicate a high-power event and vice versa. In discussing performance, describing pipe fragmentation pattern by fragment weight distribution mapping (FWDM) or fragment surface area distribution mapping (FSADM) was useful. When fillers detonated, detonation velocities of ~4.4 mm/μs were measured. In such cases, side walls of the pipe were thrown first; the average fragment velocity was ~1000 km/s. In deflagrations, the end cap was first thrown; fragment velocities were only ~240 km/s. Blast overpressures varied; at 10 feet, 2 × 12 inch steel pipes containing ~550 g of detonable mixture produced overpressures of 5-6 psi; similar nondetonating pipes produced less than 2 psi. Maximum fragment throw distances were 250-300 m, with an average of ~100 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the quantification of frangibility of the frangible bullets, which has high practical significance in evaluating the capability of a bullet to fragment upon impact on the target or obstacle and which allows comparison between the different types of the frangible bullets. In this article new original evaluation method of frangibility of frangible pistol bullets when hitting to the defined target is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning with Baudelaire's preface to the Petits poèmes en prose, and spanning writers from early Dumas, Stendhal, Sand and Hugo to Zola, this article asks whether serialized fragmentation was quite the virtue Baudelaire's preface makes it, or more a doubleedged commercial necessity. Raising Nodier's and Mérimée's querying of unity, it explores the questions of form, narrative and moral, that Balzac's La Vieille Fille presents, and traces the retreat from ethically (especially sexually) dangerous territory in Balzac's and Delphine de Girardin's contemporary and subsequent serialized texts. Hugo's Le Dernier Jour d'un condamné and Les Misérables are offered as counter-examples of fictions which were not serialized, perhaps because more thematically and formally unified than the feuilleton narratives discussed, and because, unlike them, they ask a more challenging, primarily moral rather than narrative question: not What? or How? but Why? A closing reflection on Zola indicates how journalistic serialization disseminated and made the novel as a popular, increasingly solipsistic genre, yet, in its dependence on money, almost destroyed the form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Possible loads on a multiple rocket launcher have been systemized and analyzed. Based on the analysis of loads, a mathematical-mechanical model has been made to describe the stability of a MLR hit by a high explosive-fragmentation projectile (HE-FRAG) in a close range. The results give the dependency of the launcher stability on explosion proximity, its typeand the explosive charge mass. The stability limit is determined by the force that can turn over the laucher and compromise the stability of projectiles inside. To simplify the given model, the kinetic energy is calculated for a projectile fragment that hits the launcher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]