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Active matter, comprising many active agents interacting and moving in fluids or more complex environments, is a commonly occurring state of matter in biological and physical systems. By its very nature, active matter systems exist in nonequilibrium states. In this paper, the active agents are small Janus colloidal particles that use chemical energy provided by chemical reactions occurring on their surfaces for propulsion through a diffusiophoretic mechanism. As a result of interactions among these colloids, either directly or through fluid velocity and concentration fields, they may act collectively to form structures such as dynamic clusters. A general nonequilibrium thermodynamics framework for the description of such systems is presented that accounts for both self-diffusiophoresis and diffusiophoresis due to external concentration gradients, and is consistent with microreversibility. It predicts the existence of a reciprocal effect of diffusiophoresis back onto the reaction rate for the entire collection of colloids in the system, as well as the existence of a clustering instability that leads to nonequilibrium inhomogeneous system states.

Colloidal motors with micrometer dimensions and no moving parts can be propelled by self-diffusiophoresis. Coupling between molecular concentration gradients generated by asymmetric surface chemical reactions and the velocity slip between colloidal particle and the surrounding fluid solution is responsible for propulsion. The interfacial properties involved in this propulsion mechanism can be described by nonequilibrium thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, disclosing the fundamental role of microreversibility in the coupling between motion and reaction. Among other phenomena, the approach predicts that propulsion by fuel consumption has the reciprocal effect of fuel synthesis by mechanical action.

The thermodynamic entropy production for the scattering processes of noninteracting bosons and fermions in mesoscopic systems is shown to be related to the difference between the Connes–Narnhofer–Thirring entropy per unit time, characterizing temporal disorder in the motion of quantum particles, and the associated time-reversed coentropy per unit time. Under nonequilibrium conditions, the positivity of thermodynamic entropy production can thus be interpreted as a time-reversal symmetry breaking in the temporal disorder of the quantum transport process. Moreover, the full counting statistics of both fermionic and bosonic quantum transport is formulated in relation with the energy and particle currents producing thermodynamic entropy in nonequilibrium steady states.

A study is reported of copolymerization processes subjected to an external force in the light of recent advances on the kinetics and thermodynamics of copolymer growth. Different processes are considered: the free copolymerization of Bernoulli and first-order Markov chains and copolymerization with a template. For every process, the dependence on the force is analyzed for the elongation rate, the growth velocity, the disorder in the copolymer sequence, the thermodynamic entropy production, as well as related quantities. It is shown that disorder in the copolymer sequence can generate forces of entropic origin. They are characterized by the value of their stall force in the force–velocity relation of the corresponding process.

This paper is devoted to multivariate fluctuation relations for all the currents flowing across an open system in contact with several reservoirs at different temperatures and chemical potentials, or driven by time-independent external mechanical forces. After some transient behavior, the open system is supposed to reach a nonequilibrium steady state that is controlled by the thermodynamic and mechanical forces, called the affinities. The time-reversal symmetry of the underlying Hamiltonian dynamics implies symmetry relations among the statistical properties of the fluctuating currents, depending on the values of the affinities. These multivariate fluctuation relations are not only compatible with the second law of thermodynamics, but they also imply remarkable relations between the linear or nonlinear response coefficients and the cumulants of the fluctuating currents. These relations include the Onsager and Casimir reciprocity relations, as well as their generalizations beyond linear response. Methods to deduce multivariate fluctuation relations are presented for classical, stochastic and quantum systems. In this way, multivariate fluctuation relations are obtained for energy or particle transport in the effusion of an ideal gas, heat transport in Hamiltonian systems coupled by Langevin stochastic forces to heat reservoirs, driven Brownian motion of an electrically charged particle subjected to an external magnetic field, and quantum electron transport in multi-terminal mesoscopic circuits where the link to the scattering approach is established.

Education actors in the United States are increasingly promoting language skills development of our students. The Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) has grown into a popular initiative to promote biliteracy and recognize students who demonstrate skills in English and another language. However, the language used to promote biliteracy and the criteria put in place to award the SoBL risk exacerbating differences in opportunities between linguistic communities rather than promote speakers of all languages. Minnesota introduced the SoBL through a law explicitly aimed at supporting education for English language learners. This paper critically reviews the goals of the SoBL initiative, describes the approaches Minnesota has taken to support English language learners to earn the seal and discusses the practical challenges schools and districts face. States and districts need to explicitly address these barriers to avoid increasing inequities through the SoBL.

Education actors in the United States are increasingly promoting language skills development of our students. The Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) has grown into a popular initiative to promote biliteracy and recognize students who demonstrate skills in English and another language. However, the language used to promote biliteracy and the criteria put in place to award the SoBL risk exacerbating differences in opportunities between linguistic communities rather than promote speakers of all languages. Minnesota introduced the SoBL through a law explicitly aimed at supporting education for English language learners. This paper critically reviews the goals of the SoBL initiative, describes the approaches Minnesota has taken to support English language learners to earn the seal and discusses the practical challenges schools and districts face. States and districts need to explicitly address these barriers to avoid increasing inequities through the SoBL. The Challenge: The Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) is a growing initiative implemented by many states to encourage students to develop literacy skills in more than one language. How can this initiative recognize both English speakers who learn a second language in school and speakers of other languages who develop English literacy in school? Can the SoBL be implemented equitably across districts with varying levels of linguistic diversity? Can students who speak a nondominant language at home be recognized and earn college credit in the same way as their English‐speaking friends who take an AP course? This paper describes the competing goals of the SoBL across states and examines how Minnesota has sought to implement this initiative equitably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]