Modeling of Small DC Magnetic Field Response in Trilayer Magnetoelectric Laminate Composites

We consider a magnetoelectric laminate which comprises two magnetostrictive (Ni) layers and an in-between piezoelectric layer (PZT). Using the finite-element method-based software COMSOL, we numerically calculate the induced voltage between the two faces of the PZT piezoelectric layer, by an external homogeneous small-signal magnetic field threading the three-layer Ni/PZT/Ni laminate structure. A bias magnetic field is simulated as being produced by two permanent magnets, as it is done in real experimental setups. For approaching the real materials’ properties, a measured magnetization curve of the Ni plate is used in the computations. The reported results take into account the finite-size effects of the structure, such as the fringing electric field effect and the demagnetization, as well as the effect of the finite conductivity of the Ni layers on the output voltage. The results of the simulations are compared with the experimental data and with a widely known analytical result for the induced magnetoelectric voltage

(Re)Moralizing the suicide debate

Contemporary approaches to the study of suicide tend to examine suicide as a medical or public health problem rather than a moral problem, avoiding the kinds of judgements that have historically characterised discussions of the phenomenon. But morality entails more than judgement about action or behaviour, and our understanding of suicide can be enhanced by attending to its cultural, social, and linguistic connotations. In this work, I offer a theoretical reconstruction of suicide as a form of moral experience that delineates five distinct, yet interrelated domains of understanding – the temporal, the relational, the existential, the ontological, and the linguistic. Attention to each of these domains, I argue, not only enriches our understanding of the moral realm, but provides a heuristic for examining the moral traditions and practices which constitute contemporary understandings of suicide. Keywords: Suicide; philosophy; social values; humanitie

The use of clear-water non-estuarine mangroves by reef fishes on the Great Barrier Reef

Within the tropics, mangroves and coral reefs represent highly productive biomes. Although these habitats are often within close proximity, the role and importance of mangrove habitats for reef fish species remains unclear. Throughout the Indo-Pacific, reef fish species appear to have few links with estuarine mangrove habitats. In contrast, clear-water non-estuarine mangrove habitats throughout the Caribbean support many reef fish species and may be fundamental for sustaining reef fish populations. But how important are clear-water non-estuarine mangroves for reef fishes within the Indo-Pacific? Using visual surveys during diurnal high tide, the fish assemblages inhabiting clear-water mangrove and adjacent reef habitats of Orpheus Island, Great Barrier Reef, were recorded. Of the 188 species of fishes that were recorded, only 38 were observed to inhabit both habitats. Of these, only eight were observed more than five times within each habitat. These observations provide little indication that the clear-water mangroves are an important habitat for reef fish species. In addition, although based on just a 3-month survey period, we found little evidence to suggest that these areas are important nurseries for reef fish species. The clear-water mangroves of Orpheus Island may, however, provide an additional foraging area for the few reef fish species that were observed to utilize these habitats during high tide. The difference in the importance of clear-water mangroves for reef fishes within this study compared with clear-water mangrove counterparts within the Caribbean is surprising. Although only preliminary, our observations would support suggestions that the patterns reflect the different hydrological characteristics and evolutionary histories of these two biogeographic regions