General Interest Research Articles

Solution-Based Synthesis of Cathode Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries

Electrochemical energy storage is expected to make an important contribution to combating global climate change, e.g. via electric vehicles and stationary storage. Currently, lithium-ion batteries are the most prominent candidate for rechargeable batteries to be used in this respect. However, performance of lithium-ion batteries is strongly influenced by the active material at the cathode side, which is often a complex multi-metal oxide. Such a material's properties are dictated by the fabrication method. The design of an appropriate synthesis strategy is then logically also aimed at optimal material properties. However, the design strategy should also take into account green chemistry principles, such as atom economy and energy efficiency. Solution-based routes towards (multi)metal oxide synthesis provide a large diversity of routes and therefore a strong versatility in their design. In this contribution, two groups of routes will be discussed: aqueous solution-gel and coprecipitation routes. The aqueous solution-gel route encompasses three stages: precursor solution synthesis, in which the metal ions are stabilized by complexation with carboxylate ligands, gelation to form an amorphous precursor gel in which the metal ions are homogeneously mixed, and decomposition into the final metal oxide. In this route, precipitation is to be avoided, since it would introduce inhomogeneities. In contrast, the coprecipitation route is entirely based on the formation of insoluble solid precipitates, which can be further transformed in a solid state reaction into lithiated compounds. Whereas solution-gel is ideally suited for complex metal oxides with a large number of metal ions, coprecipitation of many different metal ions at the same time can be challenging. On the other hand, the atom efficiency of the latter can be very high which is attractive for upscaling. Certainly, both of these routes have a high versatility because of the flexibility in compositions (starting products, solvents, ...) and conditions (temperature, time, ...) during the synthesis.In this presentation, an overview will be given of the application of these synthesis routes to the synthesis and/ or surface modification of various cathode materials for lithium ion batteries, which are of general interest and are ranging from Ni-rich compositions of NMC (NMC622), to lithium manganese rich NMC and to Co-free compositions such as LNMO and Li rich LMO. First, the classic NMC 622 is surface modified by a TiOx via a sol-gel route, leading to the formation of core-shell structured particles. The presence of TiOx improved the rate performance and electronic conductivity of the cathode material, and led to a higher initial coulombic efficiency and lower ageing rates in full cells with LTO. Furthermore, layered Li-rich/Mn-rich (LMR-)NMC, which is interesting because of its remarkably high specific discharge capacity was synthesized by two different routes, solution-gel and coprecipitation. It was shown that the solution-gel material in this case had a retarded voltage fade but larger capacity fade than the coprecipitated material. This was correlated to differences in particle morphology and the presence of Ni-enriched spinel-type surface layer. Furthermore, the effect of Sn4+ substitution in the LMR-NMC was investigated. The solubility of Sn4+ substituting for Mn4+ turned out to be a limiting factor here, and could not prevent the voltage fade sufficiently. Finally, we turned to Co-free cathode compositions. LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4-delta was prepared by an aqueous solution-gel route, which allowed to tune the particle size (a few µm versus 70 µm) and morphology. This led to optimized initial discharge capacity and its retention. Finally, Ti4+ substituted Li2MnO3 was synthesized as well via an aqueous solution-gel method. The substitution was shown to improve the structural stability, and galvanostatic cycling hinted at a delayed oxygen release during the first 10 cycles, however, followed by pronounced oxygen redox activity.In conclusion, solution-based routes are highly versatile and provide many opportunities to synthesize cathode materials for lithium ion batteries.

Services of general interest – the concept and its application in scientific research and spatial development

In the scientific community, the concept of services of general interest is relatively new, even though its components have been examined in various ways for several decades. The term "service of general interest" is a political and normative expression introduced by the European Union. While it is challenging to provide a precise definition, services of general interest are generally understood as service activities that public administration bodies in a specific country or region designate as activities contributing to the public welfare. In geographical research, individual elements of this concept are often analysed, such as the provision of infrastructure and services in settlements, the organization of central places, or the accessibility of services in a specific area. This paper aims to organize fundamental knowledge about services of general interest, as found in scientific and professional literature; with the intention of analysing definitions and classifications of these services, exploring the scientific interest in distinct service categories, examining the spatial organization of services, and investigating their accessibility and adaptation in response to modern social, economic, and technological changes.

Decisions of the General Meeting of Shareholders in a Limited Liability Company, Legislative and Doctrinal Aspects

The decisions of general meetings embody the social will, which is forged in the course of debates through the joint, collegial effort of the participating members, driven by a unitary interest of the limited liability company. The resolutions of general meetings have therefore been described as collective legal acts, the manifestation of a collective will, which incorporates the individual wills of the members who participate together in its conclusion and which is formed on the basis of the majority principle, according to which the majority signifies the will of society, governed by a general interest, which justifies the sacrifice of the minority of members. This is also the reason why resolutions are binding on members who did not attend the general meeting or who voted against the majority decision and asked for it to be included in the minutes of the meeting, provided that they were validly adopted.

Концептуализация экологической философии и философии экологии как направлений познания архитектоники экологического бытия

One of the urgent problems of modern humanitarian knowledge is the implementation of a holistic and critical analysis of ecological philosophy and philosophy of ecology as directions of philosophical cognition in the un-derstanding of environmental problems characterizing various models of the relationship between man and nature. Considering these directions of scientific knowledge, we establish that they differ not only in the subject of cognition, but also in the models of interaction: the first one studies ecological theories and concepts, in the center of which are evolutionary processes of nature and society, and the second one studies ontological and axiological aspects characterizing the sustainability of human and nature development in accordance with hu-manistic attitudes, opposing negative scenarios of future development of mankind. Due to the spread of neo-humanism and transhumanism, special perspectives of noosphere, eco-culture, and post-apocalyptic scenari-os in general are being formed. The general interest of these directions is conditioned by the study of the archi-tectonics of ecological being as the most important basis of ecological civilization of the present and future in the context of sustainable development.

Review: Wildlife forensic genetics-Biological evidence, DNA markers, analytical approaches, and challenges.

Wildlife-related crimes are the second most prevalent lawbreaking offense globally. This illicit trade encompasses hunting, breeding and trafficking. Besides diminishing many species and their habitats and ecosystems, hindering the economic development of local communities that depend on them, undermining the rule of law and financing terrorism, various cross-species transmissions (zoonoses) of pathogens, including COVID-19, can be attributed to wildlife crimes. Wildlife forensics applies interdisciplinary scientific analyses to support law enforcement in investigating wildlife crimes. Its main objectives are to identify the taxonomic species in question, determine if a crime has been committed, link a suspect to the crime and support the conviction and prosecution of the perpetrator. This article reviews wildlife crime and its implications, wildlife forensic science investigation, common forms of wildlife biological evidence, including DNA, wildlife DNA techniques and challenges in wildlife forensic genetics. The article also reviews the contributions of genetic markers such as short tandem repeat (STR) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers, which provide the probative genetic data representing the bulk of DNA evidence for solving wildlife crime. This review provides an overview of wildlife DNA databases, which are critical for searching and matching forensic DNA profiles and sequences and establishing how frequent forensic DNA profiles and sequences are in a particular population or geographic region. As such, this review will contain an in-depth analysis of the current status of wildlife forensic genetics, and it will be of general interest to wildlife and conservation biologists, law enforcement officers, and academics interested in combating crimes against wildlife using animal forensic DNA methods.

What’s next in hospital digitization? A Delphi-based scenario study

The digital transformation has induced significant social and economic changes, impacting services of general interest, including healthcare. National healthcare systems serve as crucial pillars of social and prosperity security, necessitating adaptation in the face of digital transformation. Among healthcare institutions, hospitals play a vital role due to the nature and scope of their care services. This study presents a scenario-based investigation to explore the forthcoming changes in the healthcare environment and their potential effects on inpatient care. The study employed an iterative approach, commencing with an exploratory survey of experts to identify impact areas and descriptors. Subsequently, a two-round Delphi survey, involving a four-member stakeholder expert group, was conducted to evaluate and refine the identified parameters. A fuzzy clustering algorithm was utilized in the study to derive four different scenarios. These scenarios elucidate alternative development paths and describe the characteristics that may lead to these developments. The study’s findings offer valuable insights for formulating proactive recommendations and interventions to effectively address future developments in healthcare.

(How) do self-concept, interest, and conscientiousness function together in academic motivation? A typological approach developed and replicated in two large-scale samples

BackgroundFollowing a call for integrative attempts to study academic motivation, we apply a typological approach. AimTo identify and replicate naturally existing combinations of general academic self-concept, school interest, and conscientiousness. SampleTwo national representative samples of Luxembourgish 9th grade students (N > 12,000). MethodLatent profile analysis (LPA) to identify motivation profiles, as well as BCH method and R3STEP approach to relate profiles to academic adjustment and background variables. ResultsLPA's revealed six robust motivation profiles, three of which mainly reflect differences in students' general motivation level (i.e., “Highly motivated”, “Lowly motivated”, and “Amotivated” students). In line with the assumption of synergistic motivation processes in expectancy and value, these differences in motivation strength were reflected uniformly in different indicators of academic adjustment (e.g., standardized test scores and school anxiety). However, we also replicated three profiles whose nature and relation to academic adjustment point to compensatory and interference processes of motivation. While “Self-confident” students, who are characterized by a high general academic self-concept only, showed a better academic achievement as would have been expected by their motivation level, “Unconfident” students showed a rather poor academic adjustment, despite a relatively high interest in schooling and a high conscientiousness. In addition, we found some evidence that for “Conscientiously motivated” students, being highly conscientious may compensate for relatively low interest, seemingly at the cost of relatively high school anxiety. ConclusionOur typological approach complements previous variable- and person-oriented research on the interplay between expectancy beliefs, value beliefs, and conscientiousness.

Aesthetics and predictive processing: grounds and prospects of a fruitful encounter.

In the last few years, a remarkable convergence of interests and results has emerged between scholars interested in the arts and aesthetics from a variety of perspectives and cognitive scientists studying the mind and brain within the predictive processing (PP) framework. This convergence has so far proven fruitful for both sides: while PP is increasingly adopted as a framework for understanding aesthetic phenomena, the arts and aesthetics, examined under the lens of PP, are starting to be seen as important windows into our mental functioning. The result is a vast and fast-growing research programme that promises to deliver important insights into our aesthetic encounters as well as a wide range of psychological phenomena of general interest. Here, we present this developing research programme, describing its grounds and highlighting its prospects. We start by clarifying how the study of the arts and aesthetics encounters the PP picture of mental functioning (§1). We then go on to outline the prospects of this encounter for the fields involved: philosophy and history of art (§2), psychology of aesthetics and neuroaesthetics (§3) and psychology and neuroscience more generally (§4). The upshot is an ambitious but well-defined framework within which aesthetics and cognitive science can partner up to illuminate crucial aspects of the human mind. This article is part of the theme issue 'Art, aesthetics and predictive processing: theoretical and empirical perspectives'.

Decomposed defect formation energy for analysis of doping process: The case of n-type and p-type doping of β-FeSi2

Defect formation energy governs the thermodynamics of a specific dopant within the host material. Here, we introduce an approach to decomposing the defect formation energy into intuitive components, each representing a distinct physical step in the process of defect formation. Through this approach, we illustrate that adhering solely to conventional criteria, such as ionic radius, may overlook potential dopants. Taking β-FeSi2, a promising high-temperature thermoelectric material, as an example, we demonstrate that non-intuitive chemical interactions can play a more significant role in lowering the defect formation energy. As a result, Ir on Fe site is found to exhibit unexpected low defect formation energy among the 26 candidate dopants and has been employed in experiment to enhance the thermoelectric figure of merit of n-type β-FeSi2. The understanding gained from this work could be of general interest for addressing the doping limit issue for other potential thermoelectric materials.

Prestanak hipoteke usled eksproprijacije

Two groups of situations can lead to cessation of a security right. The first group of situations is connected to the cessation of the hypothec due to the fact that the secured claim has ended, while the second group of bases for the cessation of the hypothec is connected to the situation when hypothec has ceased to exist although the secured claim has not. One of the individual bases from the latter mentioned group is the situation when the hypothec does not exist anymore due to taking of the real estate due to general interest. The Law on Hypothec states expropriation explicitly as one of the general interests, therefore, that is the main focus of this paper. After focusing on the Law on Hypothec, we will also consider the Law on Expropriation and the way it regulates this situation. The focus of this paper will be an attempt to see how the two mentioned Laws regulate the matter and if they do it in the same way. If there are differences, we will try to shed a light on them and explain their significance as well as alternative solutions.

Impact of food swap recommendations on dietary choices in an online supermarket: A randomized controlled trial

One novel strategy to shift food choices in digital shopping environments is to automatically recommend healthier alternatives when an unhealthy choice is made. However, this raises the question which alternative products to recommend. This study assesses 1) whether healthier food swap recommendations are effective, even though the unhealthy choice was made in the presence of visible FOP nutrition labels, and 2) how the similarity of the alternatives influences the acceptance of food swap recommendations. Based on a pre-test, similarity of the recommendation was operationalized in terms of animal-based versus plant-based options. A randomized controlled trial (healthy food swap recommendation conditions: none, similar animal-based, dissimilar plant-based, or mixed animal- and plant-based) with 428 Dutch participants was conducted in a simulated online supermarket. Additional healthier food swap recommendations improved the nutritional quality of the final basket compared to only providing Nutri-Score nutrition labels (−1.7 mean FSA score, p < .001, medium Cohen’s d = −0.48). Compared to the dissimilar condition, acceptance of an alternative was more likely in the mixed (odds-ratio = 2.78, p = .015) and in the similar condition (odds-ratio = 2.24, p = .048), but the nutritional quality of the final basket did not differ between treatment conditions. Individuals in treatment conditions who did not receive any recommendation (i.e. only made healthy choices) had higher Nutri-Score familiarity and general health interest than individuals who received recommendations. This suggests that for individuals with higher knowledge and motivation FOP nutrition labels were sufficient, whereas for individuals with lower knowledge and motivation additional food swap recommendations can improve dietary choices. Food swap recommendations may act as meaningful reminders by disrupting the automatic choice process and triggering individuals to rethink their (unhealthy) choice.

Društva kapitala i obavljanje delatnosti od opšteg interesa

This paper analyses the legal framework for companies which perform activities of general interest. Specifically, the issue of defining companies to which the provisions of the Law on Public Enterprises apply, as well as companies governed by the Law on Management of State-Owned Companies is elaborated. Many rules which govern these companies differ from the general legal framework for companies. The paper pointed out the change of approach regarding the regulation of these entities which resulted in the legal framework becoming even more complex than before. Namely, the change relates only to those companies which are owned by the state in the narrower meaning, since the provisions of the Law on Public Enterprises continue to apply to companies which perform activities of general interest whose owners are local self-government and autonomous province. Finally, the paper analyses the rules which apply to the establishment of companies which perform activities of general interest.

Exploring the Benefits, Barriers, and Facilitators of Physical Activity and Interest in Intergenerational Physical Activity Programming Within a Hispanic/Latino Community in the Midwest

Hispanic/Latino individuals across the lifespan generally do not engage in enough physical activity. Intergenerational programming is an innovative solution that could improve opportunities for physical activity across the lifespan in a culturally relevant manner; however, few studies have explored perceptions of intergenerational physical activity programming among Hispanic/Latino communities. This pre-implementation study aimed to: (a) explore the perceived benefits, barriers, and facilitators of physical activity among an intergenerational sample of Hispanic/Latino community members and stakeholders and (b) assess interest in intergenerational physical activity programming. This qualitative study consisted of a total of eight focus groups (N = 45 participants): Hispanic/Latino youth (2 groups), their parents (2 groups), older Hispanic/Latino adults (3 groups), and community stakeholders who work with older adults (1 group). We used thematic analysis techniques integrating the Framework Method to compare and contrast perspectives between participant groups. We found that all groups identified physical, mental, and/or social benefits to physical activity. Primary barriers included limited physical accessibility, environmental considerations, and time constraints. Primary facilitators included physical accessibility, programming format, environmental supports, and social support. Overall, there was general interest in intergenerational physical activity programming across all groups. Practitioners are encouraged to: (a) be aware of how different age groups may view and respond to program context, fit, and communications; (b) reflect on their capacity for high-quality implementation, and (c) weigh the costs and benefits of various programming decisions. Findings can be used to design culturally, linguistically, and contextually relevant intergenerational physical activity programming and to promote health equity.

Annotation for computational argumentation analysis: Issues and perspectives

AbstractArgumentation has long been studied in a number of disciplines, including several branches of linguistics. In recent years, computational processing of argumentation has been added to the list, reflecting a general interest from the field of natural language processing (NLP) in building natural language understanding systems for increasingly intricate language phenomena. Computational argumentation analysis – referred to as argumentation mining in the NLP literature – requires large amounts of real‐world text with manually analyzed argumentation. This process is known as annotation in the NLP literature and such annotated datasets are used both as “gold standards” for assessing the quality of NLP applications and as training data for the machine learning algorithms underlying most state of the art approaches to NLP. Argumentation annotation turns out to be complex, both because argumentation can be complex in itself and because it does not come across as a unitary phenomenon in the literature. In this survey we review how argumentation has been studied in other fields, how it has been annotated in NLP and what has been achieved so far. We conclude with describing some important current and future issues to be resolved.

Convergence of a exponential tamed method for a general interest rate model

We prove mean-square convergence of a exponential tamed method, for a generalized Ait-Sahalia interest rate model. The method is based on a Lamperti transform, splitting and applying a tamed numerical method for the nonlinearity. The main difficulty in the analysis is caused by the non-globally Lipschitz drift coefficients of the model. We consider the existence, uniqueness of the solution and boundedness of moments for the transformed SDE before proving bounded moments and inverse moment bounds for the numerical approximation. The exponential tamed method is a hybrid method in the sense that a backstop method is invoked to prevent solutions from overshooting zero and becoming negative. We successfully recover the strong convergence rate of order one for the exponential tamed method. In addition we prove that the probability of ever needing the backstop method to prevent a negative value can be made arbitrarily small. In our numerical experiments we compare to other numerical methods in the literature for realistic parameter values.

Consumer's preferences and willingness to pay for immune enhanced dairy products in Canada

This study examined consumer preferences for, willingness to pay for, and the most preferred mode of delivery for immune enhanced dairy products across Canada. Two sets of choice experiments were designed to evaluate preferences for functional foods and nutraceuticals as the modes of delivery for immune enhanced dairy products. Data (N = 1001) was collected through an online stated preference survey and analyzed using conditional logit model. Results revealed that there is a general consumer interest in immune enhanced dairy products, and consumers place a premium on them. Also, the presence of children below the age of fifteen in a household was a major factor that increased consumer receptivity towards the products. Further results revealed that individuals who usually consume functional foods are less likely to be interested in nutraceuticals, and vice versa, implying that the preferred mode of delivery depended on consumer preferences for either functional foods or nutraceuticals.

MAPPING STATISTICAL DATA: POSSIBILITIES OF EUROSTAT-MAP.JS LIBRARY

Abstract. Access, availability, and general interest in open data have increased significantly over the past decade. Open data can be published by various organizations and individuals, with public organizations being the largest producers of open data. Despite governments' efforts to publish a large number of high value datasets on open data portals, data reuse is still not satisfactory because users often lack the technical skills required to reuse data. Research has shown that providing open-source software and tools can help solve this problem. Since statistical datasets are among the high-value datasets and their visualization on a map can help in decision-making, this research explores the possibilities of using the Eurostat-map.js library, a novel JavaScript tool, to enable non-specialized users (e.g., researchers, journalists, and citizens) to use Eurostat statistical data to create thematic maps. By analysing use cases that utilize the Eurostat-map.js library and exploring cartographic principles and techniques available for mapping official statistical data, this research addresses its capabilities, limitations, and opportunities for future development. Although the eurostat-map.js library aims to provide a user-friendly approach, it is important to note that non-specialist users may still face challenges in using the library due to their limited technical and cartographic expertise. Creating maps and effectively visualizing Eurostat data requires a certain level of technical skills and cartographic knowledge. Non-specialist users, such as researchers, statisticians, journalists, and government agency personnel, who do not have extensive experience in programming or cartography, may find it more difficult to use the library than specialists in these fields.

Selective and (mis)leading economics journals: Meta‐research evidence

AbstractWe assess statistical power and excess statistical significance among 31 leading economics general interest and field journals using 22,281 parameter estimates from 368 distinct areas of economics research. Median statistical power in leading economics journals is very low (only 7%), and excess statistical significance is quite high (19%). Power this low and excess significance this high raise serious doubts about the credibility of economics research. We find that 26% of all reported results have undergone some process of selection for statistical significance and 56% of statistically significant results were selected to be statistically significant. Selection bias is greater at the top five journals, where 66% of statistically significant results were selected to be statistically significant. A large majority of empirical evidence reported in leading economics journals is potentially misleading. Results reported to be statistically significant are about as likely to be misleading as not (falsely positive) and statistically nonsignificant results are much more likely to be misleading (falsely negative). We also compare observational to experimental research and find that the quality of experimental economic evidence is notably higher.

The effect of valve design on the pressure losses in a high-pressure homogenizer – An improved pressure drop correlation for estimating gap height

Understanding how the design of high-pressure homogenizer valves influence pressure losses in the device is of general interest for performance optimizing, and of special importance for developing correlations for predicting gap heights and gap velocities. The traditionally used correlation is from 1975 and based on a limited experimental dataset on gaps that are longer and often of lower capacity than contemporary ones. This study uses well-validated best-practice CFD to develop an improved correlation for how homogenizing pressure depends on valve designs, extending previous investigations to also include the effect of seat and forcer incline angles. The suggested correlation differs substantially from the traditional ones, shows a marked effect on inlet and exit loss coefficients of Reynolds number and of inlet seat incline angle. For cases with Reynolds number comparable to pilot- and production-scale homogenizers, the gap height can be predicted to within 10% of the set value, using the suggested correlation.

Point-Supervised Single-Cell Segmentation via Collaborative Knowledge Sharing.

Despite their superior performance, deep-learning methods often suffer from the disadvantage of needing large-scale well-annotated training data. In response, recent literature has seen a proliferation of efforts aimed at reducing the annotation burden. This paper focuses on a weakly-supervised training setting for single-cell segmentation models, where the only available training label is the rough locations of individual cells. The specific problem is of practical interest due to the widely available nuclei counter-stain data in biomedical literature, from which the cell locations can be derived programmatically. Of more general interest is a proposed self-learning method called collaborative knowledge sharing, which is related to but distinct from the more well-known consistency learning methods. This strategy achieves self-learning by sharing knowledge between a principal model and a very light-weight collaborator model. Importantly, the two models are entirely different in their architectures, capacities, and model outputs: In our case, the principal model approaches the segmentation problem from an object-detection perspective, whereas the collaborator model a sematic segmentation perspective. We assessed the effectiveness of this strategy by conducting experiments on LIVECell, a large single-cell segmentation dataset of bright-field images, and on A431 dataset, a fluorescence image dataset in which the location labels are generated automatically from nuclei counter-stain data. Implementing code is available at https://github.com/jiyuuchc/lacss.