Kierkegaard and political theory: religion, aesthetics, politics and the intervention of the single individual

The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard’s radical protestant philosophy of the individual – in which a person’s leap of faith is favoured over general ethics – has become a model for many contemporary political theorists. Thinkers such as Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou have drawn on its revolutionary spirit to position truth above the constraints of political systems. In the volume, contributors from a wide range of disciplines examine just how crucial Kierkegaard’s anti-institutional thinking has been to such efforts and to modernity as a whole

Time-Complex Anxiety

The following remarks are intended as philosophical comments on Gilles Deleuze’s groundbreaking reflections on a control society emerging at the end of the 20th century (cf. Deleuze 1992). Following Foucault, Deleuze’s interpretations of the ‘contemporary’ socio-technological transformations are mostly of a spatio-technical nature; the aim of this article is to complement his diagnosis with a time-philosophical analysis. Here, the guiding question is how to best characterize the time-political dimension of the new forms of social (“apprenticeships and permanent training”) and economic control, which has only further increased with the financialization of the 21st century (“Man is no longer man enclosed, but man in debt”) (1992: 6-7). Deleuze’s text already contains a number of clues that are relevant in this context, for example his references to the work of the dromonihilist Paul Virilio, specifically to the “ultrarapid forms of free-floating control” (1992: 4) that the latter outlined. Behind the acceleration paradigm sketched out by Virilio, however, we recognize an explanatory model of a different temporality, that is, both a different model of explanation and a different model of time. According to our working hypothesis, complex societies or societies that, under the influence of algorithms and computer-based infrastructures, are temporally complex can no longer be understood from the perspective of the present. The type of economy that Deleuze subsumed under the concept of ‘control society’ corresponds to a logic that is no longer centered on the present or the contemporary. Rather, under the digital technological conditions of the 21st century, control turns out to be time control and control of (as well as from) the future

The relationship between footwear, somatosensory status, and performance of key components of static and dynamic balance as measured by inertial measurement units (IMUs)

PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS: Postural control is influenced by somatosensory input from the feet. Somatosensation, such as plantar cutaneous and vibratory thresholds, decline with age and have been identified as a contributing factors to instability and falls in older adults. The purpose of this investigation is to better understand the interaction of footwear (on/off) on static and dynamic balance using more sensitive testing methodologies, in this case Inertial Movement (Measurement) Units or IMUs. It is hypothesized that participants will demonstrate superior performance with shoes-on during static and dynamic balance tests. SUBJECTS: A sample of convenience was drawn from a local fall risk screening (N=17, mean age 78.5 years, range 60-99; 70.6% female). The sample was considered to be an at risk community dwelling population based upon Fullerton Advanced Balance (FAB) scores (mean=25.94) and Timed Up And Go (TUG) times (mean = 8.03 seconds). MATERIALS/METHODS: Somatosensory status was quantified by Rydel-Seiffer? Semi-quantitative Tuning Fork (128Hz) and Semmes-Weinstein? Monofilaments. Movement variables were quantified using IMUs while each participant performed static and dynamic balance tests with and without footwear. The instrumented Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction on Balance (I-CTSIB) was selected as the static test, whereas the 25 ft. instrumented TUG (I-TUG) represented the dynamic test. Analysis included postural sway acceleration (I-CTSIB, m2/s4) and components of the I-TUG which may require somatosensory input for optimal performance, including sit to stand time, gait parameters, turn parameters, and test duration. RESULTS: With no regard to the sensory status of an individual, there is little difference in static or dynamic balance performance between groups with shoes on or off, consistent with existing literature. When sensory status is factored into the analysis, significant performance differences (F(14,2) = 5771.9, p 0.001) are identified in all dynamic test variables. In addition, significant differences were noted in the eyes closed conditions (firm and foam) of static testing (CTSIB, p 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: Footwear significantly influences performance during static dynamic balance testing for the Community dwelling older adults with somatosensory impairments.Includes bibliographical references.illustrations.b6542664

Design and Analysis of the Aperture Shield Assembly for a Space Solar Receiver

A joint U.S./Russia program has been conducted to design, develop, fabricate, launch, and operate the world's first space solar dynamic power system on the Russian Space Station Mir. The goal of the program was to demonstrate and confirm that solar dynamic power systems are viable for future space applications such as the International Space Station (ISS). The major components of the system include a solar receiver, a closed Brayton cycle power conversion unit, a power conditioning and control unit, a solar concentrator, a radiator, a thermal control system, and a Space Shuttle carrier. Unfortunately, the mission was demanifested from the ISS Phase 1 Space Shuttle Program in 1996. However, NASA Lewis is proposing to use the fabricated flight hardware as part of an all-American flight demonstration on the ISS in 2002. The present paper concerns the design and analysis of the solar receiver aperture shield assembly. The aperture shield assembly comprises the front face of the cylindrical receiver and is located at the focal plane of the solar concentrator. The aperture shield assembly is a critical component that protects the solar receiver structure from highly concentrated solar fluxes during concentrator off-pointing events. A full-size aperture shield assembly was fabricated. This unit was essentially identical to the flight configuration, with the exception of materials substitution. In addition, a thermal shock test aperture shield assembly was fabricated. This test article utilized the flight materials and was used for high-flux testing in the solar simulator test rig at NASA Lewis. This testing is described in a companion paper

Application of vapor phase corrosion inhibitors for contaminated environments

Availability and accessibility to clean water for industrial applications such as hydrotesting and hydrostatic testing of pipelines, vessels, and plumbing distribution systems has been a challenging task especially when the job sites are in remote locations. When contaminated water is used in these tests, corrosion of the metallic components of the systems, during and after testing become a major concern. Vapor-phase corrosion inhibitors (VCI), can be added to water in small concentrations to prevent corrosion during testing, during wet storage and after testing. These inhibitors are to prevent corrosion of metallic components in three phases, within the solution, at the water line, and above the water line. Three commercially available corrosion inhibitors were evaluated in this investigation. Laboratory studies are presented in this paper, showed the effectiveness of VCI products in both fresh and salt water applications. Average corrosion rate dropped from ~10 mpy for salt solution to less than 1-1.6 mpy when various inhibitors was added. The effectiveness of these inhibitors is remarkable in the fresh water (less than 0.4 mpy). Exposure of the steel samples to these inhibitors did not show any loss in mechanical properties. Both strength and ductility of the low carbon steel samples was maintained. Document type: Articl

A Questionnaire on Materialisms

Recent philosophical tendencies of “Actor-Network Theory,” “Object-Oriented Ontology,” and “Speculative Realism” have profoundly challenged the centrality of subjectivity in the humanities, and many artists and curators, particularly in the UK, Germany, and the United States, appear deeply influenced by this shift from epistemology to ontology. October editors asked artists, historians, and philosophers invested in these projects—from Graham Harman and Alexander R. Galloway to Armen Avanessian and Patricia Falguières to Ed Atkins and Amie Siegel—to explore what the rewards and risks of assigning agency to objects may be, and how, or if, such new materialisms can be productive for making and thinking about art today