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Tourmaline is a widespread borosilicate mineral that is well known for its variable chemistry. Although a major amount of octahedral Al in tourmaline is commonplace, the occurrence of significant amounts of tetrahedral Al is relatively rare. This paper focuses on tourmaline from the collection of the A.E. Fersman Mineralogical Museum (Russia) originated from Italy with up to 25% of Si replaced by Al at the tetrahedral site. The tourmaline is characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, energy-dispersive and wavelength-dispersive X-ray analysis, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The studied tourmaline occurs as transparent dark blue crystals (with equant external morphology) up to 3 mm in size and forms veinlets cutting a (Mg,Al)-rich metamorphosed mafic-ultramafic rock (Mg >> Fe) composed of spinel, pargasite, clinochlore, phlogopite, and hydroxylapatite. The studied tourmaline meets the criteria defining magnesio-lucchesiite and can be compositionally formed via Tschermak-like ([6]Me2+ + [4]Si4+ ↔ [6]Al3+ + [4]Al3+, where [6]Me2+ = Mg,Fe) or plagioclase-like ([9]Ca2+ + [4]Al3+ ↔ [9]Na+ + [4]Si4+) substitutions. Zones with a relatively high Si content (Si-rich) have pronounced indications of dissolution, while silicon-depleted zones (Si-poor) overgrow Si-rich zones, eventually creating a visible replacement zone of the crystal. We suggest that Si-poor tourmaline results from the Si-rich tourmaline losing Si during a metasomatic process. The resulting empirical crystal-chemical formula for the Si-poor zone is: X     C a   0.95     N a   0.03     ◻ 0.02         Σ 1.00     Y     M g   1.08     A l   0.98     F e   0.50   2 +     F e   0.43   3 +         Σ 3.00     Z     A l   5.91     F e   0.09   3 +         Σ 6.00     T     S i   4.57     A l   1.43         Σ 6.00     O   18           (BO3)3V(OH)3W[O0.95(OH)0.05]Σ1.00 [a = 15.9811(2), c = 7.12520(10) Å, R1 = 1.7%] and for the Si-rich zone is: X     C a   0.89     N a   0.11         Σ 1.00     Y     M g   1.55     A l   0.80     F e   0.34   2 +     F e   0.31   3 +         Σ 3.00     Z     A l   5.51     M g   0.44     F e   0.05   3 +         Σ 6.00     T     S i   5.35     A l   0.65         Σ 6.00     O   18           (BO3)3V(OH)3W[O0.93(OH)0.07]Σ1.00 [a = 15.9621(3), c = 7.14110(10) Å, R1 = 1.7%]. According to pressure-temperature (P-T) calculations of mineral assemblage stability and comparable data on synthetic [4]Al-rich tourmalines, the studied tourmaline was formed at 600–750 °C and 0.10–0.20 GPa. The formation of tetrahedral Al-rich tourmalines requires several unusual factors: (1) desilication of primary rocks and (2) high temperatures and relatively low pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the following fractional Schrödinger–Poisson system with discontinuous nonlinearity: ε 2 s (− Δ) s u + V (x) u + ϕ u = H (u − β) f (u) , in R 3 , ε 2 s (− Δ) s ϕ = u 2 , in R 3 , u > 0 , in R 3 , where ɛ > 0 is a small parameter, s ∈ ( 3 4 , 1) , β > 0, H is the Heaviside function, (−Δ)su is the fractional Laplacian operator, V : R 3 → R is a continuous potential and f : R → R is superlinear continuous nonlinearity with subcritical growth at infinity. By using nonsmooth analysis, we investigate the existence and concentration of solutions for the above problem. Moreover, we obtain some properties of these solutions, such as convergence and decay estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the free boundary problem of the radially symmetric compressible Navier–Stokes equations with viscosity coefficients of the form μ(ρ) = ρθ, λ(ρ) = (θ − 1)ρθ in R N . Under the continuous density boundary condition, we correct some errors in (Z. H. Guo and Z. P. Xin, "Analytical solutions to the compressible Navier–Stokes equations with density-dependent viscosity coefficients and free boundaries," J. Differ. Equ., vol. 253, no. 1, pp. 1–19, 2012) for N = 3, θ = γ > 1 and improve the spreading rate of the free boundary, where γ is the adiabatic exponent. Moreover, we construct an analytical solution for θ = 2 3 , N = 3 and γ > 1, and we prove that the free boundary grows linearly in time by using some new techniques. When θ = 1, under the stress free boundary condition, we construct some analytical solutions for N = 2, γ = 2 and N = 3, γ = 5 3 , respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we are devoted to establishing the point-wise decay estimates for solution to the 5D defocusing energy-critical Hartree equation with an initial data in H 2 ( R 5 ) ∩ L 1 ( R 5 ) . We show that the nonlinear solution has the same time decay rate as the linear one. The main new ingredient is that we used the theories of Lorentz spaces to overcome the low power of nonlinearity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Although there are several indirect methods that can be used to verify reference limits, they have a common weakness in that they assume a low proportion of pathological values. This paper investigates whether a Gaussian decomposition algorithm can identify the non-pathological fraction even if it is not the main subset of mixed data. All investigations are carried out in the R programming environment. The mclust package is used for Gaussian mixture modelling via the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. For right-skewed distributions, logarithms of the original values are taken to approximate the Gaussian model. We use the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) for evaluation of the results. The reflimR and refineR packages serve as comparison procedures. We generate synthetic data mixtures with known normal distributions to demonstrate the feasibility and reliability of our approach. Application of the algorithm to real data from a Nigerian and a German population produces results, which help to interpret reference intervals of reflimR and refineR that are obviously too wide. In the first example, the mclust analysis of hemoglobin in Nigerian women supports the medical hypothesis that an anemia rate of more than 50 % leads to falsely low reference limits. Our algorithm proposes various scenarios based on the BIC values, one of which suggests reference limits that are close to published data for Nigeria but significantly lower than those established for the Caucasian population. In the second example, the standard statistical analysis of creatine kinase in German patients with predominantly cardiac diseases yields a reference interval that is clearly too wide. With mclust we identify overlapping fractions that explain this false result. Gaussian mixture modelling does not replace standard methods for reference interval estimation but is a valuable adjunct when these methods produce discrepant or implausible results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an introduction to a themed issue of the journal Pólemos. The issue focuses on the connection between legal, social, and political concepts and the persistence of violence in contemporary life. The guest editors have assembled a diverse collection of papers by scholars from various disciplines and countries, including Mexico, Poland, Italy, Spain, Ireland, the USA, UK, and Australia. The authors explore the influence of German legal philosopher Carl Schmitt on the understanding of violence, as well as other themes such as religion, law, and politics. The issue also addresses the culture of violence in Mexico and its relation to machismo and religious devotion. [Extracted from the article]

The article informs about case study of a serious and multiple ethical misconduct after an author submitted a paper to five journals for publication and committed some form of plagiarism. Topics include mathematics and in sciences in general, multiple submissions of the same results or parallel papers are prohibited as serious ethical misconduct; and mathematics simultaneous or concurrent submission of a manuscript describing the same research publication in the electronic online systems.

In recent decades ballistocardiography (BCG) has regained popularity as a way to measure the mechanical activ- ity of the heart. In this paper we present and evaluate a new iteration of our mobile BCG measurement system. The pro- posed system uses an inertial measurement unit (IMU) placed on the carotid artery to derive the BCG. We conducted a mea- surement series to evaluate the system and to do an initial in- vestigation into whether more complex heart parameters can be derived from BCG data. The evaluation shows that heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) calculated using BCG data, agrees well with the reference measurement and amplitudes calculated are mostly comparable in range to other papers. In conclusion, the system can reliably derive features from BCG data that can be used in further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an outcome of the scientific conflict within business valuation theory in the German-speaking area, New Political Economy of Business Valuation has developed a possible approach to explain the dissemination of neoclassical valuation concepts in theory and practice. This explanatory model, designed by Quill (2016), is extended by Follert (2020) to include the share valuation in squeeze-out cases for the compensation of minority shareholders. For this purpose, the different actors in the legal mediation procedure ("Spruchverfahren")—the judge, the auditor as expert, and the conflicting parties—are modeled based on their stereotypical interests. The aim of the present paper is to introduce international scientific community to the scientific conflict between the proponents of investment-theoretical and those of the finance-theoretical conception, and to discuss the role of judicial decision-making from a legal-economic perspective. We would like to illustrate why a judge could benefit from the use of finance-theoretical valuation methods based on the neoclassical capital asset pricing model recommended by the relevant standard (so-called standard 1) of the "Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer in Deutschland IDW" (Institute of Public Auditors in Germany) ("IDW S 1"). The analysis takes a socioeconomic perspective and argues that judicial valuation is primarily influenced by the judges' tendency to promote their own reputation and by social pressure from their professional environment and different interest groups. This paper adds a further perspective to New Political Economy of Business Valuation. Moreover, the close link between jurisprudence, economics and business economics theory is pointed out. Although the approach presented deals with the squeeze-out under German law, it may be applicable to squeeze-out arrangements in other countries as well, as long as the basic assumptions apply in their legal systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indexing P arguments on bivalent predicates is often considered more restricted and less often obligatory than A indexing. However, differential A indexing, i.e., the absence versus the presence of an index referring to the A argument role, is not uncommon either: usually present A indexes can be omitted in particular discourse settings. However, differential A indexing has been a Cinderella subject in the typological study of differential marking, as opposed to differential P indexing or differential A flagging. This paper scrutinizes various cases of both differential A and P indexing and examines structural and functional differences and similarities. It will be shown that exploring differential indexing helps to understand how indexing in general is linked to referential prominence which surfaces as factors such as identifiability, animacy or topicality. Cases where indexing is particularly sensitive to referential prominence, and where it thus is employed only if the referent fulfills certain criteria, bring out the fact that A and P indexing have a common purpose, namely tracking referents through discourse. In this context, the paper also points out that differential A indexing presents an exception from generalizations concerning the amount of material in coding asymmetries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we describe the development of a self-test on content knowledge as one element of a digital learning environment. The self-test on prior knowledge consists of tasks in the categories Periodic Table of Elements, chemical bonding, chemical formulas, and chemical reactions (reaction equations and reaction mechanisms). For the study, tasks from all topics have been used in a paper-pencil multiple-choice and multiple response test on the task at hand and an accompanying questionnaire with closed and open items. The results of the study show that the students rated the tasks as suitable. Comments for improving the tasks regarding the wording or the design were implemented. Because of students' lack of understanding regarding some of the technical terms, a glossary and games will be added to the digital learning environment. Many students overestimated their knowledge and their competences, therefore the self-test in the learning environment will include feedback to ensure that the students can improve their content knowledge and its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every season, the international football calendar contains periods reserved for a series of so-called special matches including international friendly or official matches played by national teams. All these periods are called "FIFA reserved dates" in the calendar and generally cause domestic competitions to shut down for some days. Such interruptions of leagues might generate different effects or externalities on the performance of players, clubs or even on the competition itself. While a number of studies focus on the effect of players' absence on teams performance, this paper contributes to the literature by specifically evaluating the effect of the "FIFA reserved dates" on football outcomes. Using data for four seasons from the "big five" European leagues, I find evidence that the outcomes distribution in those matches played after a "FIFA reserved date" becomes more balanced, thus increasing the uncertainty of outcome. The results of this paper contribute to the ongoing debate about the management and design of the international match calendar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that vaccines could be viewed as artifacts which communicate various social messages and are used as instruments for fulfilling different sociopolitical goals besides meeting public health needs. It further suggests that such social, cultural and political influences may have real effects on the choices of vaccine technologies or vaccine production, and aims to demonstrate their importance in the area which is normally seen as the domain of objective science. This is demonstrated by using the example of the locally produced oral polio vaccine (OPV) in Serbia during the socialist and post-socialist periods in the country's history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolutionary psychology (EP) theorizes that contemporary women and men differ psychologically, particularly in mating and sexuality. It is further argued that EP research on gender-specific psychological differences is compatible with feminist perspectives. This paper analyzes if integrating EP scholarship on gender differences into feminist scholarship is possible by investigating EP's core scientific commitments. I will argue that EP's theories, hypotheses, and empirical findings that pertain to the study of gender do not align with its core values based on Longino's feminist theoretical virtues as outlined in the 1996 article "Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Values in Science: Rethinking the Dichotomy." I employ feminist theoretical virtues as tools for revealing how certain theories, models, and hypotheses rely upon, promote contentious norms, and suppress gender. I will defend the thesis that EP theories, hypotheses, and empirical findings are often empirically inadequate, androcentric, and ontologically too homogeneous. Further, EP employs single-factor control models, has no straightforward practical application, and might even be politically dangerous. These characteristics challenge a successful integration of EP into feminism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a class of functionals subject to a duality restriction. The functional is of the form J (Ω , Ω * ) = ∫ Ω f + ∫ Ω * g , where f, g are given nonnegative functions in a manifold. The duality is a relation α(x, y) ≤ 0 ∀ x ∈ Ω, y ∈ Ω*, for a suitable function α. This model covers several geometric and physical applications. In this paper we review two topological methods introduced in the study of the functional, and discuss possible extensions of the methods to related problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes an approach to crystal growth that was published in parts in various articles over the course of 25 years by the present author and his colleagues. Evidence for this approach, which is confirmed in detail by data in the cited publications and in the figures and equations in the supplementary material that accompanies this paper (see the Online Materials Deposit item AM-24-18851. Online Materials are free to all readers. Go online, via the table of contents or article view, and find the tab or link for supplemental materials.), comes mainly from the shapes of crystal size distributions (CSDs). Such distributions reveal the growth histories of natural minerals and synthetic compounds, histories that can be used to make geological interpretations and to guide industrial syntheses. CSDs have three fundamental shapes: log-normal, asymptotic, and Ostwald. These shapes result from different degrees of supersaturation near the time of nucleation. The first two distribution shapes form according to the Law of Proportionate Efect (LPE) at moderate supersaturation, and the latter rare distribution forms by Ostwald ripening at large supersaturation. Initially, the first two distributions have mean diameters of up to tens of nanometers and grow by surface-limited growth kinetics. The slow step in this reaction is the incorporation of nanoparticles (bits of crystal or adparticles) onto the crystal surface. As the crystals become larger, their demand for nutrients, as calculated by the LPE, increases exponentially. Then the slow step in the reaction changes to the rate of transfer of nutrients to the crystal (supply- or transport-limited growth). Crystal diameters often grow the most during this latter stage, and the initial CSD shapes that originally formed during surface-limited growth are retained and scaled up proportionately. Proportionate growth during the supply-limited stage can be simulated approximately by multiplying the diameter of each crystal in a distribution by a constant. Crystals can also grow by a constant rate law in which a constant length is added to each crystal diameter in the distribution. This rare process causes the original CSD to narrow so that its initial shape is not preserved. The growth law that prevails, either proportionate or constant, is determined by the manner in which nutrients are supplied to the crystal. Supply is by advective flow during proportionate growth, with the nutrient solution moving with respect to the crystals. Constant growth relies on the random difusion of nutrients through a quiescent solution. Proportionate growth is by far the most common growth law, and therefore, nutrient supply by difusion alone during crystal growth is uncommon. Distributions formed by Oswald ripening and those formed by other rare processes are also discussed. During Ostwald ripening, nucleation caused by mixing reactants at large supersaturation forms crystals that are extremely fine and numerous. The larger crystals grow at the expense of the finer, less stable crystals, thereby forming, on completion, the universal steady-state CSD shape predicted by the Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner (LSW) theory. This unique CSD shape, as well as other rare shapes, then are scaled up to larger sizes by supply limited proportionate growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate on the adequate regulatory treatment of non-bank financial intermediation (NBFI). It proposes an avenue for regulators to keep regulatory arbitrage under control and preserve sufficient space for efficient financial innovation at the same time. We argue for a normative approach to supervision that can overcome the proverbial race between hare and hedgehog in financial regulation and demonstrate how such an approach can be implemented in practice. We first show that regulators should primarily analyse the allocation of tail risk inherent in NBFI. Our paper proposes to apply regulatory burdens equivalent to prudential banking regulation if the respective transactional structures become only viable through indirect or direct access to (ad hoc) public backstops. Second, we use insights from the scholarship on regulatory networks as communities of interpretation to demonstrate how regulators can retrieve the information on transactional innovations and their risk-allocating characteristics that they need to make the pivotal determination. We suggest in particular how supervisors should structure their relationships with semi-public gatekeepers such as lawyers, auditors and consultants to keep abreast of the risk-allocating features of evolving transactional structures. Finally, this paper uses the example of credit funds as non-bank entities economically engaged in credit intermediation to illustrate the merits of the proposed normative framework and to highlight that multipolar regulatory dialogues are needed to shed light on the specific risk-allocating characteristics of recent contractual innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author cites reasons why researchers should publish their works in "American Mineralogist: An International Journal of Earth and Planetary Materials" in 2013. Topics discussed include the capability of the journal to reach the researchers' intended audience, and the difference between publishing in "American Mineralogist" and other journals such as "Science" or "Nature." Also mentioned are open access publishing, student membership, and subscription cost.

A novel method to continuously measure the rate of build-up of an immobilised layer (apparent filter cake) was demonstrated for three mineral suspensions containing carboxymethyl cellulose and polymer latex. These suspensions were designed to be similar to those normally used as coating colours within the paper industry. The instrumentation was based on a rheometer equipped with units for controlling (and measuring) the normal forces acting on the rotating upper plate and precise measurements of the gap height in parallel–plate geometry. The bottom plate in the measurement cell was perforated and connected to vacuum, giving the driving pressure for flow through the filter. The technique should so far be taken as a qualitative, but is an attractive method for measuring filtration in thin films under controlled shear rate. The technique enables the apparent filter cake height to be calculated at any time during dewatering of the coating colours.

Current research on the long-term influence of ordoliberal and neoliberal ideas is hampered by an overly static and generalised picture of the Freiburg School. To address this gap, the paper analyses all articles published in ORDO, the flagship journal of the Freiburg School, between 1948 and 2014. This makes it possible to distinguish three phases of post-war ordoliberalism, to identify personal continuities and breaks, and to summarise thematic, methodological, and conceptual developments. Since the analysis utilises text mining methods, such as keyword identification and Topic Modeling, and validates the results of distant reading with close reading and external data, the paper also highlights some general methodological insights for using Digital Humanities in the historical sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers step-by-step instructions for origami design.

This paper provides an overview of the development and operation of the Leonhard Med Trusted Research Environment (TRE) at ETH Zurich. Leonhard Med gives scientific researchers the ability to securely work on sensitive research data. We give an overview of the user perspective, the legal framework for processing sensitive data, design history, current status, and operations. Leonhard Med is an efficient, highly secure Trusted Research Environment for data processing, hosted at ETH Zurich and operated by the Scientific IT Services (SIS) of ETH. It provides a full stack of security controls that allow researchers to store, access, manage, and process sensitive data according to Swiss legislation and ETH Zurich Data Protection policies. In addition, Leonhard Med fulfills the BioMedIT Information Security Policies and is compatible with international data protection laws and therefore can be utilized within the scope of national and international collaboration research projects. Initially designed as a "bare-metal" High-Performance Computing (HPC) platform to achieve maximum performance, Leonhard Med was later re-designed as a virtualized, private cloud platform to offer more flexibility to its customers. Sensitive data can be analyzed in secure, segregated spaces called tenants. Technical and Organizational Measures (TOMs) are in place to assure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive data. At the same time, Leonhard Med ensures broad access to cutting-edge research software, especially for the analysis of human -omics data and other personalized health applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I focus on how the meritorious dimension (or latitude, Spielraum) involved in the promotion of the highest good is closely related to the constitution of an ethical community as a free, open and progressive moral society. I argue that since moral perfection and moral belief/faith as the grounding elements for the promotion of the highest good (synthesis of virtue and happiness) are not objective duties that must be promoted to a definite extent but involve a certain latitude in their employment, the ethical community that emerges out of the pursuit of the highest good does not prove to be a uniform society in terms of the degrees of the pursuit of moral perfection and moral commitment of its citizens. Rather, I point out that the latitude involved in the pursuit of moral perfection and the adoption of moral belief leads to the establishment of an ethical community that emerges as an open and free society entered by its citizens freely and willfully as part of their inner self-constraint. I thus hold that in such an ethical society agents can pursue and promote the highest good not in a strictly prescribed and uniform manner but in various forms and degrees as long as they constantly progress towards a higher form of moral perfection and purer form of religious (or rational) belief/faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethical intuitionism traces its roots back to the early eighteenth century in the field of ethics. Despite apparent distinctions, intuitionism, especially in its recent development by Huemer, bears a striking resemblance to robust versions of rationalist foundationalism. In this paper, we will argue against the perspective of robust intuitionism. Furthermore, we commit to reviewing what theorists operating within the field of study known as Dual Process Theory hypothesize about intuition. Nonetheless, we do not claim that the origin of our moral beliefs is unreliable or discreditable. On the contrary, we entertain the prospect of reviving intuitionistic themes by leveraging the concept of a Kantian scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores variation in the patterns of reflexivity marking in the Mano language and possible influence from the Kpelle language by using an experimental design with a picture questionnaire. While Kpelle does not have a morphological distinction between reflexive and basic pronouns, the Mano variety spoken by Mano-dominant individuals does possess such a distinction in 3sg. In contrast, the Mano variety spoken by Kpelle-dominant individuals shows a pattern borrowing from Kpelle into Mano, whereby the basic pronoun is used for both coreferential and disjoint readings. In a bilingual village, however, despite daily usage of both languages, almost all speakers from our sample manifest a uniform pattern that aligns closely with the monolingual Mano pattern of reflexivity marking. Therefore, the intensity of contact alone does not predict the amount of influence of Kpelle on Mano. Contrary to predictions by Labov (2010. Principles of linguistic change. Volume 3, Cognitive and cultural factors. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell: 5), we conclude that the languages spoken in a multilingual speech community do not necessarily converge and that a balanced multilingual community may provide enough input to acquire monolingual-like competence, at least according to the specific parameter under investigation. In the long run, however, convergence between Mano and Kpelle could indeed be taking place, with Mano losing its reflexivity contrasts, having already lost the contrast in 3pl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes how automatic speech recognition (ASR) can be used to explore electronic patient records (EPR) in a sterile environment. As an information display, we used a system that was developed for the presentation of patient data and for supporting surgical hand disinfection. The speech recognition was performed using the Mozilla Web Speech API. A room microphone, a Jabra Box, and a directional microphone, a RØDE NT-USB Mini, were tested at various positions. Interactions with the EPR are triggered with a list of commands. The interaction was working as indented and test persons reported the system as intuitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An atraumatic approach to the inner ear is an important goal in the future development of cochlear implant surgery, as the current surgical procedure for electrode insertion is highly invasive. To reduce invasiveness, minimally invasive surgical options are being explored, such as the insertion of one or more drill channels. Due to the proximity to critical structures, a temperature sensor is incorporated into the medical drill for process parallel temperature monitoring to prevent thermal damage. The temperature data is sent to the analysis hardware via Bluetooth BLE. This requires a power supply for the electronics on the drill. There are a number of limitations to the design of such a power supply. For one, the drill is rotating. Therefore, the energy generation must be contactless. Secondly, the energy generation should not depend on the rotation of the drill, so that the temperature can be measured even without the drill rotating and the rotational speed of the drill is not limited. In this paper, we propose a solution for a contactless energy transmission system (ETS) based on inductive coupling. Considering the dimensional limitations of attaching the electronics to the drill shaft, a multilayer PCB coil with multiple contacts for different number of turns is developed. The electrical circuit is simulated and the best settings are identified. The power supply is validated according to the predefined requirements. In the future, the medical drill will be built with the newly developed ETS. Sterilization and wear tests are performed to confirm the suitability of the drill with integrated temperature sensor for the operating room. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrasound gel is used as a coupling medium in ultrasound procedures, thereby ensuring the entry of sound waves into the body of the patient and providing ultrasound images of high quality. In this paper, we present an approach to automatically supply ultrasound gel during robot guided ultrasound examinations. For this purpose, we combine a simple mechanical design consisting of a gel tube and a push mechanism with a specialized control strategy exploiting the robotic nullspace of 7 DoF redundant manipulator. Functionality is demonstrated by robotic ultrasound scans on phantoms, with gel being automatically applied when needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient coupling between optical fibers and on-chip photonic waveguides has long been a crucial issue for photonic chips used in various applications. Edge couplers (ECs) based on an inverse taper have seen widespread utilization due to their intrinsic broadband operation. However, it still remains a big challenge to realize polarization-insensitive low-loss ECs working at the O-band (1,260–1,360 nm), mainly due to the strong polarization dependence of the mode coupling/conversion and the difficulty to fabricate the taper tip with an ultra-small feature size. In this paper, a high-efficiency and polarization-insensitive O-band EC is proposed and demonstrated with great advantages that is fully compatible with the current 130-nm-node fabrication processes. By introducing an asymmetric bi-level dual-core mode converter, the fundamental mode confined in the thick core is evanescently coupled to that in the thin core, which has an expanded mode size matched well with the fiber and works well for both TE/TM-polarizations. Particularly, no bi-level junction in the propagation direction is introduced between the thick and thin waveguide sections, thereby breaking the critical limitation of ultra-small feature sizes. The calculated coupling loss is 0.44–0.56/0.48–0.61 dB across the O-band, while achieving 1-dB bandwidths exceeding 340/230 nm for the TE/TM-polarization modes. For the fabricated ECs, the peak coupling loss is ∼0.82 dB with a polarization dependent loss of ∼0.31 dB at the O-band when coupled to a fiber with a mode field diameter of 4 μm. It is expected that this coupling scheme promisingly provides a general solution even for other material platforms, e.g., lithium niobate, silicon nitride and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retroreflectors can scatter the arbitrarily incident wave back to incoming direction, demonstrating great potential in wireless communication. However, there are limitations in adaptive retroreflection and polarization modulation with the existing retroreflectors. In this paper, a novel metasurface array with a reconfigurable transmission line (TL) network has been proposed to flexibly achieve multiple manipulation functions of electromagnetic wave including upper half-space cross-polarized retroreflection and circularly polarized retroreflection in the diagonal planes and radar cross section (RCS) reduction. To accomplish these capabilities, a novel transmission mode for ferrite circulators has been developed, enabling precise phase control of the TL. By adjusting the operation states of the circulators, multiple phase differences between forward and reverse transmission directions including ±90° and ±180° are generated. With the obtained phase differences, the metasurface array can flexibly achieve the adaptive retroreflection fields with multiple polarization characteristics based on the spatial field superposition and the RCS reduction based on the phase cancellation. To validate the concept and feasibility of the proposed reconfigurable retrodirective metasurface, an X-band prototype has been fabricated and measured. Good agreement between the simulation and the experiment is observed to verify the effectiveness of our retrodirective design in upper half-space wave manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we design a multimodal visible/near-infrared photoacoustic microscopy and optical coherence tomography (VIS/NIR-PAM-OCT) system for imaging both retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)/choroid complex layer. F127 and DSPE-PEG-cRGD encapsulated IR-1048 nanoparticles (FINPs) exhibiting absorption peak up to 1,064 nm were utilized as contrast agents to enhance NIR-PAM for in vivo imaging of fundus tissues. The fundus structure and vessels are clearly visualized by the multimodal imaging, and their parameters were quantitatively analyzed. NIR-PAM and OCT imaging of fundus were time-serially monitored over 60 min following the intravenous injection of FINPs into rats. The results indicated a 134 % increase in image signals in PAM at 1 min, along with an 8.23 % intensity enhancement in OCT. Moreover, laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV) was specifically detected and accurately quantified using VIS/NIR-PAM-OCT. Lastly, FINPs demonstrated excellent biocompatibility in hematology analysis and pathology testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The information security plays a significant role in both our daily life and national security. As the traditional algorithm-based secure key distribution (SKD) is challenged by the quantum computers, the optical physical-layer SKD has attracted great attentions such as quantum SKD, chaos SKD, and reciprocity-based SKD. However, the cost of quantum SKD is still unaffordable and the latter two classical SKDs are only reliable with some preshared information or under simple eavesdrop. So far, there still lacks a high-security and low-cost optical SKD scheme. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a high-security chip-encoded classical optical SKD paradigm based on the reciprocity of incoherent matrix. The security of SKD is facilitated by the incoherence of input light, and it is the first time that the classical optical SKD is achieved with silicon photonic chips and commercial optical fiber link. Experimentally, we set up a chip-to-chip communication link and achieve key generation rate of 100 bit/s over a 40 km single mode fiber, with key error rate of only 1.89 %. Moreover, we demonstrate the key capacity expansion of the proposed scheme with four-channel wavelength division multiplexing. Our proposal paves the way for the low-cost, high-security, and miniaturized optical SKD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a novel class of low-loss and cost-effective optical planar structures tailored for magnetic detection applications. These structures represent unconventional magneto-plasmonic devices specifically optimized for an 'optical switch' configuration. The structure consists of a 1D deep sinusoidal gold grating covered by a thin cobalt layer. In this unique arrangement, the excited plasmon induces a high-contrast switching phenomenon between the reflected free space intensity of specular (0th) and −1st diffracted orders, sensitive to any transverse magnetic fields applied to the cobalt layer. The use of these two distinct diffracted orders induces differential measurements, effectively mitigating common drift and perturbations. This innovative approach results in an enhanced detection sensitivity, showcasing the potential of these structures for advanced magnetic field sensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Andi (Nakh-Daghestanian; Russia) displays a typologically remarkable phenomenon: adverbs of numerous morphological and functional types inflect for agreement with a clause-level controller. To the extent that adverb agreement has been observed elsewhere, it is commonly taken to signal that the items involved are semantically oriented towards the participants they agree with, aligning the phenomenon with secondary predication. This paper demonstrates that Andi works differently: the widespread clausal agreement seen on Andi adverbs is insensitive to participant orientation. While agreement exponence on adverbs is morphologically complex, a simple structural principle (modelled here in Minimalist terms) ensures that clause-level agreement is always with the absolutive-case argument. The Andi facts thus provide evidence for a typological distinction between those languages where clausal agreement on adverbs can serve a semantic function and those where it cannot. A potential challenge is posed by the exceptional “biabsolutive” construction, where both subject and object appear in absolutive case and either may control adverb agreement, suggesting a role for some additional non-structural factor. However, on independent grounds this paper identifies the two arguments as belonging to distinct structural layers; this apparent flexibility in controller choice merely reflects the ability of certain adverbs to modify either layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modern period, tourism is one of the most important global industries. It often appears to guarantee contact with nature, claims to protect habitats and respect principles of ecological sustainability. This paper explores Sicilian tourism and its representation in publicitary material from an ecolinguistic perspective. It asks what kind of imaginary of nature in modern Sicily can be viewed through such shots of the natural world, how these imaginaries might reflect current ecosophy, and how compatible they might be with ecological principles. It applies the heuristic notion of 'imaginary', current in social sciences such as sociology, psychology, and anthropology, to the context of ecolinguistic enquiry, asks how our ideas of a place and its ecosystems may be socially or culturally determined, and how these factors play into a mindset which may, or may not, be ecologically sensitive. The findings suggest that tourism photographs tend to present place images that conform to strict generic criteria, responding to public expectations and pragmatic, commercial requirements. They neither present reliable images of Sicily, nor contribute to the propagation of a specific sense of place, but rather conform to a generic pattern that tends to homogenize tourist destinations at a global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical study explores the financialization of social sustainability driven by sustainability accounting and reporting initiatives (SARIs). Since no globally accepted definition of what social sustainability encompasses exists, the paper asks how social sustainability is translated into the financial market language by SARIs as they provide standards for disclosing corporate non-financial performance and promote their concepts of social sustainability. The paper uses a two-step qualitative content analysis. First, it operationalizes social sustainability based on the empirical data of six sustainability rating agencies. Second, this operationalization is compared with the concepts created by three SARIs. The paper shows significant differences between the concepts of the SARIs and the rating agencies. While the rating agencies altogether interpret social sustainability with 83 distinct aspects, the SARIs, although differently created, use significant reduced concepts where 20% of these aspects are absent. The result of this financialization process could be a simplified and financially determined concept of social sustainability within die socially discourse. The research is limited to social sustainability and its financialization by SARIs. Individual indicators and their way or intensity to capture aspects of social sustainability were not part of the research interest. Further research should investigate the economic and the ecological pillars of sustainability as well as the usage of such financialized concepts within the society and especially by corporations. The paper unfolds the arbitrariness of operationalizing a qualitative phenomenon like social sustainability through the financial system. It discloses the need for looking at the mechanisms behind such processes and at the interests of the actors behind the frameworks. The paper reveals the financialization process driven by SARIs and demonstrates its simplifying effects on the concept of social sustainability. Furthermore, the paper shows that SARIs as metrics for non-financial aspects are troubled with a lack of transparency and a lack of convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I reconsider the concept of equity in corporate accounting from the perspective of the origin and attribution of business profit. In both Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB's) and International Accounting Standards Board's (IASB's) Conceptual Frameworks, shareholders' equity is synonymous with a firm's net assets. However, it is not the sole definition of equity. We may regard equity as the interest in the corporate capital itself. From this viewpoint, shareholders' equity consists of retained earnings attributable to shareholders' as well as invested capital provided by them. We should note that, under the current corporate accounting system, shareholders are assumed to be the sole residual claimants. However, the existence of implicit contracts in corporate activities implies other residual claimants in addition to shareholders. If shareholders are not the sole residual claimants, it is necessary to revisit the proprietary theory under which equity is identical to shareholders' equity. In this paper I reconsider the significance of the entity theory, which emphasizes an entity as an organization comprising various stakeholders and attributes business profit above shareholders' expectations to an entity itself. The ownership interest cannot generate the excess profit by itself. Without firm-specific investments by employees and/or entrepreneurial activities by managers, the excess profit would never emerge. We should critically examine the foundation of the current corporate accounting in order to design a more equitable and efficient corporate accounting in which business profit is attributable not only to shareholders but also to other stakeholders who contribute to its generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu isotope ratios have been widely applied to fingerprinting metal sources, tracking fluid pathways, and tracing mineralization processes, for which knowledge of isotope fractionation is required. This paper presents new experimental calibration data of Cu isotope fractionation between Cu-bearing minerals (native Cu and cuprite) and Cl-bearing hydrothermal fluids at 25–800 °C and 0.1–200 MPa. The experiments were performed either using a polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) beaker on a hotplate, a rapid heat/rapid quench argon cold seal pressure vessel (RH/RQ Ar-CSPV), or a large volume fluid reactor, which enabled fluid sampling ex situ (the former two) and in situ (the latter). Three setups were designed to investigate Cu isotope fractionation (Δ65Cufluid-mineral): (1) associated with Cu(I) dissolution, Cu(I) disproportionation as well as oxidation of Cu(0) (native copper) and Cu(I) in Cu ± Cu2O + HCl systems at temperatures of up to 800 °C and pressures of up to 200 MPa; (2) related to Cu-Au alloying processes in the Cu + NaCl/HCl system at 600 °C and 150 MPa; (3) to evaluate the influences of different sampling techniques (ex situ vs. in situ) and superimposed cooling processes. The selected system is Cu2O + NaCl + 0.2 m HAc/NaAc (pH-buffer), and runs were conducted at 200–250 °C and 20 MPa. Δ65Cufluid-mineral shows the least variation during solid separation from source fluids, generally <0.16 ± 0.03‰. Positive Δ65Cufluid-mineral values are found in most runs, excluding cuprite dissolution in NaCl/ HCl solutions at 200–250 °C, 20 MPa, and 800 °C, 200 MPa. Cu oxidative leaching into Cu(I) results in decreasing Δ65CuCu(I)-Cu(0) values from 0.12 ± 0.05% to 0.07 ± 0.05%, and –0.30 ± 0.03‰ at 25, 50, and 200 °C, respectively. In contrast, Cu dissolution at high temperatures (600–800 °C) leads to Cu(I)-containing quench fluids and subsequent native Cu precipitates. Both products are enriched in heavy isotopes by up to 5‰, caused by preferential enrichment of 65Cu at the surface layer during the alloying-induced diffusion transport process. Cuprite oxidative leaching in HCl leads to fluids enriched in Cu(II), and the corresponding Δ65CuCu(II)-Cu(I) increases from 0.52 ± 0.04‰ at 25 °C to 0.89 ± 0.02‰ at 50 °C. Fluids are enriched with light isotopes (63Cu) during cuprite dissolution at 200, 250, and 800 °C, i.e., 0–0.55 ± 0.04‰ lower than the precursor. At 250–300 °C, Cu(I) disproportionation into Cu(II) and Cu(0) dominates the observed isotope fractionation, yielding Δ65Cufluid-Cu2O up to 0.59 ± 0.03‰ and Δ65CuCu(0)-Cu2O up to –0.28 ± 0.02‰. Rapid cooling (3–25 K s–1) relative to slow cooling (0.014 K s–1) can cause phase separation as well as significant isotope fractionation, particularly if fluids cool from an intermediate high temperature to ambient temperature (e.g., from 200–300 to 25 °C), which highlights the importance of kinetic processes that may potentially alter the isotope composition of natural ore-forming fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article explores the theme of human-machine convergence as portrayed in modern science fiction movies and TV/streaming series and compares them to real-world advancements in robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and virtual reality (VR). It examines how science fiction often depicts humanoid robots and AI with human-like emotions and intentions, contrasting with the actual technological challenges and ethical considerations in developing intelligent machines. The text discusses the evolution of humanoid robots from fictional portrayals to real-life examples like Boston Dynamics' Atlas and Tesla's Optimus. The paper also explores the reverse interaction, where humans become avatars in virtual worlds, and briefly discusses the ethical implications of simulating deceased individuals in digital form. Through this examination, the paper emphasizes the complexity of human-machine convergence and the importance of considering social, ethical, and emotional aspects in technological progress. It concludes by suggesting that while science fiction provides insights into societal fears and hopes regarding technology and thus into ethical and regulative necessities, the real trajectory of human-machine convergence cannot be predicted through film but will be determined by ongoing and after all incidental developments in the real world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microstructure of three rolling surfaces of TC4 sheet is different, and their resistance ability to hydrogen damage lacks systematic research. Thus, the hydrogen damage behavior of TC4 rolling sheet was investigated in this paper. The hydrogen diffusion law along different rolling directions and the precipitation of hydrides on different rolling surfaces were compared. It is found that the shape and distribution of α and β phases are changed under the action of extrusion force during the rolling process, and they are arranged in striped shape on the R-N surface along the R direction, and the diffusion of hydrogen along the R direction is faster due to the existence of continuous β phases as hydrogen diffusion channels, resulting in the more serious hydrogen damage. Besides the hydrides mainly deposited at the α and β phase boundaries, the hydrides precipitated in the interior of α phases on the R-N surface are more than that on the R-T surface due to the different distribution state of β phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CO2 geological utilization and storage (CGUS) is a key technology to achieve carbon neutrality goals. To apply CGUS on a larger scale, the issue of steel corrosion during the process must be addressed to mitigate technological risks. This paper provides an overview of CO2-induced steel corrosion mechanisms and identifies factors that influence corrosion. The impact of CO2 partial pressure, temperature, salinity, pH, impurities, and fluid flow on steel corrosion behavior are also discussed. With the presence of water, the corrosive effect of supercritical CO2 on steel is stronger than that of dissolved CO2 or gaseous CO2. As the temperature increases, the corrosion rate of steel first increases and then decreases. Increasing salinity and decreasing pH lead to an accelerated corrosion rate of steel. Corrosion inhibitors, coatings, and corrosion-resistant alloys are recommended protective measures against CO2-induced corrosion. Compared with coatings, corrosion inhibitors and corrosion-resistant alloys are more commonly used in CGUS projects. Future research directions include further exploration of the mechanisms underlying CO2-induced steel corrosion, clarifying the coupled effects of various environmental factors, and developing corrosion protection technologies under high-pressure and high-concentration CO2 conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]