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“Dip-coatings” are a completely new technology for depositing a carbon-based overcoating on the reflecting surface of X-ray mirrors. This simple deposition process is controllable and repeatable, as well as scalable and inexpensive, and can be carried out without the requirement for specialistic equipment or trained personnel. We have considered the use of these coatings on different materials, in particular Ir monolayers and Ir/Cr bilayers, which can be convenient coatings for ATHENA mirrors. We measured the X-ray reflectivity of tens of samples in three different beamlines (one laboratory source and two synchrotron radiation facilities), covering a broad range of angular and energetic ranges. Results are in excellent agreement with the model and show that the technology has a good potential for application to X-ray optics and telescopes. More details can be found in the reference paper., {"references":["Cotroneo et al. (2022), \"Dopamine dip-liquid overcoatings for soft x-ray reflectivity enhancement,\" Proc. SPIE 12181, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 1218117, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2630212"]}

Africa contains much of Earth's biological and cultural-linguistic diversity, but conserving this diversity is enormously challenging amid widespread poverty, expanding development, social unrest, and rapidly growing human population. We examined UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Natural World Heritage Sites (WHSs) on continental Africa and nearby islands-48 protected areas containing globally important natural or combined natural and cultural resources-to gauge the potential for enlisting Indigenous peoples in their conservation. We used geographic information system technology to identify instances where Natural WHSs co-occur with Indigenous languages, a key indicator of cultural diversity. And, we compared the geographic ranges for 4 taxa and selected freshwater species with occurrence of all Indigenous languages within Natural WHSs and subsections of WHSs covered by the geographic extent of Indigenous languages to measure the correlation between linguistic and biological diversity. Results indicated that 147 languages shared at least part of their geographic extent with Natural WHSs. Instances of co-occurrence where a WHS, a language, or both were endangered marked localities particularly deserving conservation attention. We examined co-occurrence of all languages and all species, all languages and endangered species, and endangered languages and endangered species and found a correlation between linguistic and biological diversity that may indicate fundamental links between these very different measures of diversity. Considering only endangered species or endangered languages and species reduced that correlation, although considerable co-occurrence persisted. Shared governance of government-designated reserves is applicable for natural WHSs because it capitalizes on the apparent connection between culture and nature. Natural WHSs in Africa containing speakers of Indigenous languages present opportunities to conserve both nature and culture in highly visible settings where maintaining natural systems may rely on functioning Indigenous cultural systems and vice versa.Diversidad Lingüística y Oportunidades de Conservación en los Sitios de Patrimonio Mundial UNESCO en África Resumen África contiene mucha de la diversidad biológica, cultural y lingüística de la Tierra, aunque conservar esta diversidad es un reto enorme debido a la pobreza extendida, el desarrollo en expansión, la inestabilidad social y el rápido crecimiento de la población humana. Examinamos los Sitios de Patrimonio Mundial (SPM) de la UNESCO (Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, Ciencia y Cultura) en África continental y en las islas aledañas-48 áreas protegidas que contienen recursos naturales o una combinación de recursos culturales y naturales de importancia mundial-para conocer el potencial para enlistar a los pueblos indígenas como parte de su conservación. Usamos tecnología de sistemas de información geográfica para identificar las instancias en donde coincidieron los SPM Naturales con los lenguajes indígenas, un indicador importante de la diversidad cultural. También comparamos la distribución geográfica de cuatro taxones y seleccionamos especies de agua dulce con incidencias en todos los idiomas indígenas dentro de los SPM Naturales y las subsecciones de los SPM para medir la correlación entre la diversidad biológica y la diversidad lingüística. Los resultados indicaron que 147 lenguajes comparten al menos una parte de su distribución geográfica con los SPM Naturales. Las instancias de coincidencia en donde un SPM, un lenguaje o ambos se encuentran en peligro marcaron a las localidades particularmente merecedoras de atención para su conservación. Analizamos la coincidencia de todos los lenguajes y todas las especies, todos los lenguajes y todas las especies en peligro, y los idiomas en peligro y las especies en peligro y encontramos una correlación entre la diversidad lingüística y la diversidad biológica que podría indicar conexiones fundamentales entre estas dos medidas muy diferentes de la diversidad. Cuando sólo se consideró a las especies en peligro o a los lenguajes en peligro y a las especies en peligro en conjunto, esa correlación se vio reducida, aunque persistió una coincidencia considerable. La administración compartida de las reservas designadas por el gobierno puede aplicarse a los SPM naturales porque capitaliza la conexión aparente entre la cultura y la naturaleza. Los SPM Naturales en África que incluyen a hablantes de lenguajes indígenas representan una oportunidad para conservar a la cultura y a la naturaleza en escenarios altamente visibles en donde mantener los sistemas naturales puede depender de los sistemas culturales indígenas funcionales y viceversa.

Metallic coatings made of precious metals (e.g. Ir, Pt or Au) with high atomic number Z have been traditionally employed at grazing incidence for X-rays reflection and focalization. These materials offer a range of reflection extended to higher energies, but also present a series of absorption edges, which limit the reflectivity in the 2-4 keV band and below. Therefore the search for alternative coatings, able to improve the reflection in the soft energy range, is particularly relevant for the development of future telescopes, like ATHENA (ESA), Lynx (NASA) and eXTP (CAS). Low-Z overcoatings (e.g. carbon or B4C), applied on top of the high-Z metallic layer, can enhance the reflectivity in the softer band (mainly below 2 keV), but conventional deposition methods for these materials are not easily compatible with some of the mainstream technologies for mirror fabrication (notably, the silicon pore optics that will be used for the ATHENA X-ray mission which is being implemented by ESA). In this work we discuss novel solutions (carbon-like overcoatings realized by dip coating or vapor phase deposition), which can be particularly convenient for the application to ATHENA and to future telescopes.

PART 2. RECOGNIZING INTANGIBLE HERITAGE AND DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES - Intangible Heritage as a Driver of Cultural Landscape Management and Holistic Conservation /// Recent research indicates that speakers of indigenous languages often live in or near United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Natural World Heritage Sites (WHSs). Because language is a key index of cultural diversity, examining global patterns of co-occurrence between languages and these sites provides a means of identifying opportunities to conserve both culture and nature, especially where languages, WHSs, or both are recognized as endangered. This paper summarizes instances when indigenous languages share at least part of their geographic extent with Natural WHSs. We consider how this co-occurrence introduces the potential to coordinate conservation of nature and sociocultural systems at these localities, particularly with respect to the recently issued UNESCO policy on engaging indigenous people and the forthcoming International Year of Indigenous Languages. The paper concludes by discussing how the presence of indigenous people at UNESCO Natural WHSs introduces important opportunities for co-management that enable resident indigenous people to help conserve their language and culture along with the natural settings where they occur. We discuss briefly the example of Australia as a nation exploring opportunities for employing and strengthening such coordinated conservation efforts.

L'A. montre les difficultes d'un traitement sociolinguistique de la variation syntaxique analogue a celui de la phonologie, tant qu'on ne dispose pas d'une theorie sociolinguistique articulee et contrainte, apte, notamment, a situer les roles respectifs de la semantique et de la pragmatique.

We are developing Wolter-I X-ray optics for use in SmallSat missions. These optics are being designed for telescope focal lengths on the order of 0.5 - 1 m, much shorter than typical Astrophysics missions. The various parameters of the optics module: diameter, length, number nested shells, coatings, etc., depend partly on the spacecraft bus but the final design is driven by the science and instrument requirements of the mission (effective area, resolution, and energy band of interest). Ray trace software was developed and used to project the performance of several optics configurations, which, designed for SmallSat missions, meet the instrument requirements for the SmallSat Exosphere Explorer of hot Jupiters (SEEJ) . Results of this modeling is presented.

The long-term stability of exoplanetary atmospheres depends critically on the extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) flux from the host star. The EUV flux likely controls the demographics of the short-period planet population as well the ability for rocky planets to maintain habitable environments long enough for the emergence of life. We present the Extreme-ultraviolet Stellar Characterization for Atmospheric Physics and Evolution (ESCAPE) mission, an astrophysics Small Explorer proposed to NASA. ESCAPE employs extreme- and far-ultraviolet spectroscopy (70 - 1800 Α) to characterize the highenergy radiation environment in the habitable zones (HZs) around nearby stars. ESCAPE provides the first comprehensive study of the stellar EUV environments that control atmospheric mass-loss and determine the habitability of rocky exoplanets. The ESCAPE instrument comprises an EUV grazing incidence telescope feeding four diffraction gratings and a photon-counting detector. The telescope is 50 cm diameter with four nested parabolic primary mirrors and four nested elliptical secondary mirrors, fabricated and aligned by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The off-plane grating assemblies are fabricated at Pennsylvania State University and the ESCAPE detector system is a micro-channel plate (MCP; 125mm x 40mm active area) sensor developed by the University of California, Berkeley. ESCAPE employs the versatile and high-heritage Ball Aerospace BCP-100 spacecraft.

Axion is a promising dark matter candidate as well as a solution to the strong charge-parity (CP) problem in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). We describe a new concept for SmallSat Solar Axion and Activity X-ray Telescope (SSAXI) to search for solar axions or axion-like particles (ALPs) and to monitor solar activity over a wide dynamic range. SSAXI aims to unambiguously identify X-rays converted from axions in the solar magnetic field along the line of sight to the solar core, effectively imaging the solar core. SSAXI employs Miniature lightweight Wolter-I focusing X-ray optics (MiXO) and monolithic CMOS X-ray sensors in a compact package. The wide energy range (0.5 - 5 keV) of SSAXI can easily distinguish spectra of axion-converted X-rays from solar X-ray spectra, while encompassing the prime energy band (3 - 4.5 keV) of axion-converted X-rays. The high angular resolution (30 arcsec) and large field of view (40 arcmin) in SSAXI will easily resolve the enhanced X-ray flux over the 3 arcmin wide solar core while fully covering the X-ray activity over the entire solar disc. The fast readout in the inherently radiation tolerant CMOS X-ray sensors enables high resolution spectroscopy over a wide dynamic range with a broad range of operational temperatures. We present multiple mission implementation options for SSAXI under ESPA class. SSAXI will operate in a Sun-synchronous orbit for 1 yr preferably near a solar minimum to accumulate sufficient X-ray photon statistics.

The first detected exoplanets found were "hot Jupiters"; these are large Jupiter-like planets in close orbits with their host star. The stars in these so-called "hot Jupiter systems" can have significant X-ray emission and the X-ray flux likely changes the evolution of the overall star-planetary system in at least two ways: (1) the intense high energy flux alters the structure of the upper atmosphere of the planet - in some cases leading to significant mass loss; (2) the angular momentum and magnetic field of the planet induces even more activity on the star, enhancing its X-rays, which are then subsequently absorbed by the planet. If the alignment of the systems is appropriate, the planet will transit the host star. The resulting drop in flux from the star allows us to measure the distribution of the low-density planetary atmosphere. We describe a science mission concept for a SmallSat Exosphere Explorer of hot Jupiters (SEEJ; pronounced "siege"). SEEJ will monitor the X-ray emission of nearby X-ray bright stars with transiting hot Jupiters in order to measure the lowest density portion of exoplanet atmospheres and the coronae of the exoplanet hosts. SEEJ will use revolutionary Miniature X-ray Optics (MiXO) and CMOS X-ray detectors to obtain sufficient collecting area and high sensitivity in a low mass, small volume and low-cost package. SEEJ will observe scores of transits occurring on select systems to make detailed measurements of the transit depth and shape which can be compared to out-of-transit behavior of the target system. The depth and duration of the flux change will allow us to characterize the exospheres of multiple hot Jupiters in a single year. In addition, the long baselines (covering multiple stellar rotation periods) from the transit data will allow us to characterize the temperature, flux and flare rates of the exoplanet hosts at an unprecedented level. This, in turn, will provide valuable constraints for models of atmospheric loss. In this contribution we outline the science of SEEJ and focus on the enabling technologies Miniature X-ray Optics and CMOS X-ray detectors.

This chapter traces the history of an Italian dish known as pizza chiena ‘filled pizza’ and by various other names, brought to North America by Southern Italian immigrants. Typically prepared at Easter in parts of Southern Italy and in some Italian immigrant communities in the northeastern United States, it is essentially a baked savory pie filled with a mixture of various cheeses, meats and eggs. I examine the process of translation and adaptation of pizza chiena as it moved between these two worlds of Southern Italy and the northeast United States. Analysing a family recipe introduces a number of dimensions of variability in both the Italian and English names given to the dish in Italy and the northeastern United States as well as in the form, content and preparation methods. The chapter also examines some of the methodological problems involved in translating culinary traditions across communities and time periods and between oral and print cultures as it investigates the historical, social and geographical origins of pizza chiena , identifying elements of perseverance and persistence as well as change and adaptation.

Planetary remote-sensing instruments are often required to cover a relatively large field of view, ideally with a uniform angular resolution over the field, due to relatively large apparent sizes of planetary targets at close proximities. They also have to comply with relatively tight mass and volume constraints. For these reasons, planetary x-ray telescopes in the past were mainly collimation-based x-ray spectrometers without focusing optics. Recent advances in x-ray optics technology now enable compact focusing x-ray telescopes suitable for planetary science (e.g., BepiColombo). We present two design options for compact Wolter-I x-ray optics for a SmallSat lunar mission concept—the CubeSat X-ray telescope (CubeX). The primary objectives of CubeX are to map surface elemental abundances of selected lunar impact craters and to assess the feasibility of millisecond x-ray pulsar timing navigation in realistic deep space navigation environments. The Miniature X-ray Optics (MiXO) in CubeX utilizes electroformed NiCo alloy replication (ENR) technology, which provides many advantages over micro-pore optics (MPO) employed in BepiColombo. We carry out extensive ray traces over a grid of mirror parameters and explore a novel tapered shaped design of tightly nested shells, where both shell length and focal-plane offsets vary with shell diameter. One of the two configurations is optimized for large effective areas at low energies, while the other for lower mass and high-energy response. We compare their performances with those of conventional designs through the spatial resolution and effective area estimated by ray traces.

The New Hard X-ray Mission (NHXM) project will be operated by 2017 and is currently undergoing a Phase B study, under the coordination of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The project is being proposed by an international team in the context of the ESA Call CV M3 as a Small Mission program, with a large Italian participation. It is based on 4 hard X-ray optics modules, each formed by 60 evenly spaced multilayer coated Wolter I mirror shells. An extensible bench is used to reach the 10 m focal length. The Wolter I monolithic substrates with multilayer coating are produced in NiCo by electroforming replication. Three of the mirror modules will host in the focal plane a hybrid a detector system (a soft X-ray Si DEPFET array plus a high energy CdTe detector). The detector of the fourth telescope will be a photoelectric polarimeter with imaging capabilities, operating from 2 up to 35 keV. The total on axis effective area of the three telescopes at 1 keV and 30 kev is of 1500 cm2 and 350 cm2 respectively, with an angular resolution of 20 arcsec HEW at 30 keV. In this paper we report on the design and development of the multilayer coated X-ray mirrors based on NiCo shells.

We have developed a process for indirectly coating arbitrarily small diameter electroformed nickel replicated optics with multilayers to increase their response at high energy (i.e. >10 keV). The ability to fabricate small diameter multilayer coated full shell Wolter X-ray optics with narrow bandpass opens the door to several applications within astronomy and also provides a path for cross-fertilization to other fields. We report on the characterization and evaluation of the first two prototype X-ray Wolter optics to be delivered to the Z Pulsed Power Facility at Sandia National Laboratories. The intent is to develop and field several optics as part of an imaging system with targeted spectral ranges.

Global linguistic diversity is decreasing sharply and rapidly. Various estimates predict that 25% to 90% of the world’s 7,000 some languages (most unwritten and undocumented) may soon vanish. This chapter outlines the current state of linguistic diversity from a global perspective and considers some of the challenges in assessing endangerment and risk. Differing data, terminology and categories used by different researchers and resources make it very difficult to assess language vitality and endangerment on a global and regional scale as well as to gauge trends longitudinally, but there are strong links between language vitality, size, domains of use and status.

Multilayer coatings enhance x-ray mirror performance at incidence angles steeper than the critical angle, allowing for improved flux, design flexibility and facilitating alignment. In an attempt to extend the use of multilayer coatings to photon energies higher than previously achieved, we have developed multilayers with ultra-short periods between 1 and 2 nm based on the material system WC/SiC. This material system was selected because it possesses very sharp and stable interfaces. In this article, we show highlights from a series of experiments performed in order to characterize the stress, microstructure and morphology of the multilayer films, as well as their reflective performance at photon energies from 8 to 384 keV.

The adoption of the Millennium Declaration in 2000 by 189 member-states of the United Nations defined a critical moment for global cooperation as leaders committed themselves to achieve eight specific development objectives known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. As the largest and arguably most ambitious initiative on the international development agenda, the MDGs have become the normative framework for human development, and the MDG language of goals and targets now shapes the global debate about how to define and measure development. Examination of the progress achieved thus far towards the MDGs pinpoints language at the very heart of major fault lines in the development process: those most often left behind are language minorities. Keeping the promise of the MDGs requires a new understanding of the critical role of language in human development. Because there can be no true development with linguistic development, only by putting language at the center of development can we close the gaps and meet key targets of the MDGs and other global agendas such as Education for All (EFA) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This article issues an urgent call for linguists to make their voices heard.

This article examines the politics of policies promoting multilingualism in the European Union (EU), specifically in light of the recently released European Union Civil Society Platform on Multilingualism. As the most far-reaching and ambitious policy document issued by the European Commission, the Platform warrants close scrutiny at a significant moment when multilingualism seemed poised to become a policy field in its own right. This is an extremely important move given the fact that language policy has been politically untouchable at inter-governmental level and there is to date no coherent legally binding language policy either at the level of EU institutions or in member-states. I raise the question of whether the situation is likely to change in response to the Platform at a time when public support for European integration has been waning and the economic crisis surrounding the euro poses a new threat to the EU. The current austerity climate makes multilingual policy an easy target for budget cuts as evidenced in the European Parliament’s recent removal of the requirement to translate its plenary sessions into all 23 official languages.

It has become increasingly accepted that economic growth must be socially and environmentally sustainable. It must be linguistically and culturally sustainable as well because the conservation of biodiversity, cultural-linguistic diversity, sustainable development and the welfare of the poor are inextricably linked. The high global overlap between species and languages where the majority of the rural poor live can serve as a catalyst for bringing together researchers concerned with biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction with those focusing on the economics of language policy dedicated to maintaining linguistic and cultural diversity. While many are aware of the biodiversity extinction crisis and support campaigns for protecting endangered species, linguists and language activists have found it far more difficult to win public support for preserving linguistic diversity and revitalizing endangered languages. This chapter makes a case for support not on the basis of political arguments or appeal to human or minority rights, but rather on the basis of economic welfare theory, by taking account of some specific features of diverse linguistic environments as a valuable commodity. Evidence is presented to show why the health of a language depends on the health of its speakers, which in turn depends on the health of the natural environment.

The prospect of the loss of linguistic diversity on a large scale has prompted scholars such as Fishman and others to propose programs of intervention to ‚reverse language shift’ (RLS). RLS theories and efforts are byproducts of European indigenous minority problems, and the ideological bias of Fishman’s model of RLS privileges intergenerational transmission in the context of stable diglossia. This article examines the ideological underpinnings and utility of this framework as an appropriate model for stabilizing and revitalizing indigenous languages. I question the assumptions and theoretical perspectives underlying terms such as RLS and reconceptualize what it might mean for a language to be maintained and survive without intergenerational mother tongue transmission. As an increasing number of communities around the world face the impending loss of their languages, it is imperative to clarify these issues not just for theory’s sake, but in the interest of providing sound advice.

As the world grows less biologically diverse, it is becoming less linguistically and culturally diverse as well. Biologists estimate annual loss of species at 1,000 times or more greater than historic rates, and linguists predict that 50–90% of the world’s languages will disappear by the end of this century. Prior studies indicate similarities in the geographic arrangement of biological and linguistic diversity, although conclusions have often been constrained by use of data with limited spatial precision. Here we use greatly improved datasets to explore the co-occurrence of linguistic and biological diversity in regions containing many of the Earth’s remaining species: biodiversity hotspots and high biodiversity wilderness areas. Results indicate that these regions often contain considerable linguistic diversity, accounting for 70% of all languages on Earth. Moreover, the languages involved are frequently unique (endemic) to particular regions, with many facing extinction. Likely reasons for co-occurrence of linguistic and biological diversity are complex and appear to vary among localities, although strong geographic concordance between biological and linguistic diversity in many areas argues for some form of functional connection. Languages in high biodiversity regions also often co-occur with one or more specific conservation priorities, here defined as endangered species and protected areas, marking particular localities important for maintaining both forms of diversity. The results reported in this article provide a starting point for focused research exploring the relationship between biological and linguistic–cultural diversity, and for developing integrated strategies designed to conserve species and languages in regions rich in both.

A new Wolter x-ray imager has been developed for the Z machine to study the emission of warm (>15 keV) x-ray sources. A Wolter optic has been adapted from observational astronomy and medical imaging, which uses curved x-ray mirrors to form a 2D image of a source with 5 × 5 × 5 mm3 field-of-view and measured 60-300-μm resolution on-axis. The mirrors consist of a multilayer that create a narrow bandpass around the Mo Kα lines at 17.5 keV. We provide an overview of the instrument design and measured imaging performance. In addition, we present the first data from the instrument of a Mo wire array z-pinch on the Z machine, demonstrating improvements in spatial resolution and a 350-4100× increase in the signal over previous pinhole imaging techniques.

The need for a time-resolved monochromatic x-ray imaging diagnostic at photon energies >15 keV has motivated the development of a Wolter optic to study x-ray sources on the Z-machine at Sandia National Laboratories. The work is performed in both the LLNL’s x-ray calibration facility and SNL’s micro-focus x-ray lab. Characterizations and calibrations include alignment, measurement of throughput within the field of view (FOV), the point-spread function within the FOV both in and out of focus, and bandpass in the FOV. These results are compared with ray tracing models, showing reasonable agreement.