Cultural, administrative, and economic proximity between the UK and Canada should be good for trade

Economists place considerable emphasis on the role of (geographic) distance in explaining the pattern of international trading relationships. Using a metaphor from Newtonian physics, trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) between countries are often seen as being driven by the forces of gravity, encapsulated in the relative size of their markets and the distance between their economies. Moreover, as shown in a previous brief, geographic distance is expected to have non-linear effects; as countries become further away, their trading relationship is expected to become less intense at an increasing rate. Building on that, in this post, Saul Estrin, Angelina Borovinskaya, Christine Cote, and Daniel Shapiro provide a more fine-grained perspective on gravity effects which takes into account administrative and economic differences as well as cultural factors. They argue that cultural, administrative, and economic proximity between the UK and Canada should be good for trade

The epistemology of smart technologies: is smart epistemology derived from smart education?

The paper deals with the impact of smart technologies on cognitive and educational activities and assesses the role of smart education in education and cognition from semiotics and epistemology. The authors of the article consider smart-technologies as modern information technologies of various profiles, developed mainly for the performance of the semiotic and epistemological functions of the person with its maximum possible replacement in different areas of life. The article notes that when evaluating smart technologies, some criteria are often overlooked, while the importance of others is exaggerated. In general, quantitative scenarios for the use of smart technologies prevail over qualitative ones. This situation leads to the fact that the main characteristics of smart technologies are replaced by secondary ones, causing overestimated expectations. For example, the authors examined the misconception that a student who studies a subject as part of online learning using smart technology begins to participate in an epistemological situation from a semiotic perspective. It is because online learning makes students “discover” knowledge independently, without the necessary methodology and teacher support. An overwhelming amount of research sees this situation as an achievement, and the authors consider it to be a negative factor. However, according to the assessment of the consequences of smart learning, the best results are shown by students who already possess some methodological knowledge. At the same time, the vast majority of students show a decline in their performance in online education. The authors of the article note that from an epistemological point of view, such a property of smart technologies as a functional substitution of the subject is very consonant with some constructivist trends in epistemology and cognitive sciences, admitting “cognition without a subject.” These smart technologies’ parameters in education and epistemology allow some studies to voice ideas about the possibility of forming smart education and smart epistemology as non-subject ways of knowledge and cognition. The article demonstrated that this situation is permissible if one does not distinguish between the concepts of “information” and “knowledge” and the processes of cognition and informing. It is shown that if this condition is ignored, then the concepts of “knowledge” and “cognition” lose their meaning since the process of cognition is a way of relating knowledge and information, and it is impossible without a subject. The authors conclude that smart technologies should be considered an additional tool used for similar, but not heuristic, creative and primary actions prioritizing the subject in education and epistemology

Effect of Organic Additives on Silicon Combustion in Nitrogen

The work shows some peculiarities of silicon combustion in nitrogen in the presence of additives of organic compounds. Organic compounds with different composition were used. Combustion of samples was carried out in a constant-pressure bomb. The combustion products are composite powders and containing α-, β- Si3N4, SiC, Si2N2O. The addition of organic additives suppressed coagulation of Si particles, improved the extent of conversion, and promoted combustion of coarse Si powders which can’t be ignited by any other methods. Introduction of organic dopants to Si powders was found to intensify their combustion without significant influence on the combustion temperature. Active transition of silicon to the gas phase occurs in the low-temperature zone of the combustion wave at the temperature lower than the melting point of silicon. At the temperatures lower than the melting point of Si the quenched combustion products contain two types of crystals of SiC and Si3N4. SiC is formed within a low-temperature zone of the combustion wave. SiC is formed by fine crystals and large spherical particulates which are formed by a bunch of very thin web-like crystals. SiC and Si3N4 formation provides a protective coating on silicon particles. It prevents coagulation at the temperature increase. The experiments have proved that it is enough to introduce 1-7 M of the organic additive to 1000 M of silicon for the combustion initiation. Meanwhile, adding different inorganic salts, including ammonium chloride, did not promote combustion. After initiation of combustion to continue Si powder must contain additives or organic compounds or addition of carbon black; carbon black is necessary for keeping the combustion on

Chemical Dispersion as a Method for Segregation of Ultrafine and Nanosized Powders of SHS Refractory Compounds

Overviewed are some results of our recent works aimed at the synthesis of ultrafine and nanosized refractory powders by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) combined with chemical dispersing of combustion products. The possible application of SHS for preparing ultrafine and nanosized powders of refractory compounds is examined. Specific features of SHS afford to affect not only the chemical/phase composition of products but also the morphology and size of synthesized particles. Quenching experiments have shown that the primary product particles formed in the combustion wave may have a size of below 0.1-0.2 μm. By etching a ground SHS cake with appropriate solutions, one can dissolve the defect-rich layers between the crystallites and remove impurities. As a result, the sinter cake breaks into crystalline particles of the same size as the primary crystallites, without compositional changes. This process was termed chemical dispersion. The phase and chemical composition, specific surface and grain size of SHS refractory compounds powders are detected before and after treatment. The influence of the synthesis conditions and the dispersion agent on the morphology and particle size of the resultant powders are ascertained. Successive chemical dispersing of raw products (carbides, nitrides, silicides, borides, oxides of metals and nonmetals) with solutions of different acids, alkalis, and salts leads to an additional grinding of the product, an increase in the specific surface and a decrease in the particle size. So, the possibility to control the SHS processes allows changing the particle size and structure of the synthesized compounds and provides obtaining high-quality products of the preset structure. The following thermochemical treatment of the ground cake by special solutions (chemical dispersion) allows to segregate ultra- and nanosized powders of refractory compounds. Our experience in preparation, separation, and purification of SHS-produced nanopowders can be used as a basis for elaboration of general methodology for pilot-scale production of nanostructured compounds and composites

A critical evaluation of short columns for estimating the attachment efficiency of engineered nanomaterials in natural soils

Short, saturated packed columns are used frequently to estimate the attachment efficiency (alpha) of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in relatively homogeneous porous media, but a combined experimental and theoretical approach to obtain alpha-values for heterogeneous natural soils has not yet been agreed upon. Accurately determined alpha-values that can be used to study and predict ENM transport in natural soils should vary with ENM and soil properties, but not with experimental settings. We investigated the effect of experimental conditions, and used different methods to obtain soil parameters, essential to calculate alpha. We applied 150 different approaches to determine alpha-values from 52 transport experiments using short columns with 5 different natural soils and 20 and 80 nm gold- or 27 nm silver sulphide ENMs. The choice of column end-filter material and pore size appeared critical to avoid overestimating alpha owing to filter - ENM interactions and/or incomplete saturation of the column. Using a low ionic strength (4.4 x 10-5 mol L-1) artificial rain water as an aqueous medium avoided ENM homo- or heteroaggregation in all soils, as confirmed by single-particle inductively coupled plasma - time of flight mass spectrometry. ENM breakthrough curves could be modelled using colloid filtration theory assuming irreversible attachment only. alpha-Values calculated from this model, having the grain size represented by a single average size, accounting for dispersivity and effective porosity based on a prior inert tracer test, explained up to 42% of the variance in alpha as revealed by partial least squares analysis. However, column length and dispersivity remained as important experimental parameters, which calls for further standardisation efforts of column tests with ENMs in natural soils, preferably cross-validated with batch tests

Three-dimensional reconstruction of the tissue-specific multielemental distribution within Ceriodaphnia dubia via multimodal registration using laser ablation ICP-mass spectrometry and X-ray spectroscopic techniques

In this work, the three-dimensional elemental, distribution profile within the freshwater crustacean Ceriodaphnia dubia was constructed at a spatial resolution down to S mu m via a data, fusion approach employing state-of-the-art laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LAICP-TOFMS) and laboratory-based absorption microcomputed tomography (mu-CT). C. dubia was exposed to elevated Cu, Ni, and Zn concentrations, chemically fixed, dehydrated, stained, and embedded, prior to mu-CT analysis. Subsequently, the sample was cut into 5 pm thin sections that were subjected to LA-ICPTOFMS imaging. Multimodal image registration was performed to spatially align the 2D LA-ICP-TOFMS images relative to the Corresponding slices of the 3D mu-CT reconstruction. Mass channels corresponding to the isotopes of a single element were merged to improve the signal-to-noise ratios within the elemental images. In order to aid the visual interpretation of the data, LA-ICP-TOEMS data wete projected onto the mu-CT voxels representing tissue. Additionally, the image resolution and elemental sensitivity were compared to those obtained with synchrotron radiation based 3D confocal mu-X-ray fluorescence imaging upon a chemically fixed and air-dried C. dubia specimen

The peculiarities of using active, passive and middle voices in the English language

The article investigates the peculiarities of using active, passive and middle voice in the English language. The author gives the definition of voice in general, explains the existence of voice subdivisions. Moreover, the author gives the definition of each voice form, shows and explains how to form, use and operate with it.Данная статья исследует особенности использования активного, пассивного и среднего залогов в английском языке. Автор даёт определение залога в целом, объясняет существование подразделений залога. Более того, автор даёт определение каждой формы залога, показывает и объясняет, как формировать, использовать и оперировать ими

Influence of dispersion state of initial AlN powder on the hydrolysis process in air environment

The research results of the hydrolysis processes of aluminum nitride powders received by the SVS method in dependence on humidity of the storage environment, and grain size distribution are presented in this work. Oxidation kinetics was estimated by means of X- ray Diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The induction period of the hydrolysis process for various powders, its dependence on powder dispersion and thickness of the oxide layer on surface of particles have been defined