Early Buddhism was a predominantly spiritual movement which should ideally culminate in Enlightenment. Yet, it was embedded in the specific social environment of ancient India which included a hereditary caste system. Using the Buddhist Pāli texts and non-Buddhist literature from up until the last centuries BCE the article examines the four main hereditary categories (vaṇṇa, jāti, gotta, and kula) and how Early Buddhism related to them. We conclude that the Buddha and Early Buddhism did not oppose but rather confirmed the hereditary systems in society as well as its designations within the monastic community. The Buddha hereby followed the customs of earlier ascetic movements and imposed no specific rules on the monastics to eradicate their former social identity.
The author in his article deals with the role that Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Messiah, the Gebirah, played in the economy of salvation. The title Gebirah means the dignity of the king’s mother and the special power of her influence. Therefore, the Books of Kings almost always mention the name of the king’s mother by introducing the description of each Judah ruler from the Davidic dynasty from which the Messiah was born. The dignity of Gebirah was given to the king’s mother at the time of her son’s enthronement. The king’s mother received the prestigious title of Gebirah (2 Kings 5:3; Jer 13:18), because she gave birth to her son (geber), who became king (2 Sam 23:1). They mention three texts of the Bible about the mother of the Messiah, depicting an important figure of a mother’s role (Genesis 3:15; Jes 7:14 and Mich 5:2). Both the figure of the king and his mother prefigure the Messianic King Jesus (2 Sam 7:10-17) and his mother Mary. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, considered to be a messianic personification of the entire people of Israel, becomes the new Daughter of Zion. Mary as the messianic Gebirah is actually the Mother of the Church.
This study analyzes the conditional structures in the Spoken Arabic of Siirt, focusing on a series of aspects such as the topic of the sentences in such syntactical structures, the conditional markers, the verbal patterns and preverbal particles employed for introducing the conditionals and a compositional analysis of the conditional clause, with focus on the distinction between the real, open, generic, habitual and hypothetical conditionals, among other known types of the structure under study.
Ground temperature measurement results in main ecotopes of the Kaffiöyra coastal plain (Oscar II Land, northwestern Spitsbergen): sea beach, tundra and morainic plateau, are presented and discussed in the paper. The spatial distribution of thermal conditions is discussed with particular regard to temperature of the active surface and vertical gradients of temperature dependent on daytime and weather conditions.
This study discusses results of experiments on hydrodynamic assessment of gas flow through backbone (skeletal) porous materials with an anisotropic structure. The research was conducted upon materials of diversified petrographic characteristics – cokes. The study was conducted for a variety of hydrodynamic conditions, using air. The basis for assessing hydrodynamics of gas flow through porous material was a gas stream that results from the pressure forcing such flow. The results of measurements indicate a clear impact of the type of material on the gas permeability, and additionally – as a result of their anisotropic internal structure – to a significant effect of the flow direction on the value of gas stream. In aspect of scale transfer problem, a method of mapping the flow geometry of skeletal materials has been developed and usefulness of numerical methods has been evaluated to determine pressure drop and velocity distribution of gas flow. The results indicate the compliance of the used calculation method with the result of experiments.
The research was intended to develop a biocomposite as an alternative biodegradable material, for the production of, e.g., disposable utensils. The author’s tested thermoplastic maize starch, both without additives and with the addition of crumbled fl ax fi ber in the share of 10, 20 and 30 wt%. The plasticizer added was technical glycerin and the samples were produced by a single-screw extruder. The mechanical strength tests were performed, including the impact tensile test and three-point bending fl exural test. Afterwards, the samples were tested for biodegradability under anaerobic conditions. The methane fermentation process was carried in a laboratory bioreactor under thermophilic conditions with constant mixing of the batch. All samples proved to be highly susceptible to biodegradation during the experiment, regardless of the fl ax fi ber share. The biogas potential was about 600 ml·g-1, and the methane concentration in biogas ranged from 66.8 to 69.6%. It was found, that the biocomposites can be almost completely utilized in bioreactors during the biodegradation process. The energy recovery in the decomposition process with the generation of signifi cant amount of methane constitutes an additional benefi t.