Evidence for contact delocalization in atomic scale friction

We analyze an advanced two-spring model with an ultra-low effective tip mass to predict nontrivial and physically rich 'fine structure' in the atomic stick-slip motion in Friction Force Microscopy (FFM) experiments. We demonstrate that this fine structure is present in recent, puzzling experiments. This shows that the tip apex can be completely or partially delocalized, thus shedding new light on what is measured in FFM and, possibly, what can happen with the asperities that establish the contact between macroscopic sliding bodies.Comment: 4 pages text and 3 figure

Пам'яті Івана Григоровича Гуракова

20 вересня 2004 року, не доживши 4 дні до свого 70-річчя, пішов у вічність колишній головний гідрогеолог, начальник Трускавецької гідрогеологічно режимно-експлуатаційної станції Іван Григорович Гураков. Пішов тихо і раптово в далекій землі Ізраїлю

The geographical distribution of leadership in globalized clinical trials

Background Pharmaceutical trials are mainly initiated by sponsors and investigators in the United States, Western Europe and Japan. However, more and more patients are enrolled in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. The involvement of patients in new geographical settings raises questions about scientific and ethical integrity, especially when experience with those settings is lacking at the level of trial management. We therefore studied to what extent the geographical shift in patient enrolment is anticipated in the composition of trial management teams using the author nationalities on the primary outcome publication as an indicator of leadership. Methods and Findings We conducted a cohort-study among 1,445 registered trials in www.clinicaltrials.gov that could be matched with a primary outcome publication using clinical trial registry numbers listed in publications. The name of the sponsor and the enrolment countries were extracted from all registrations. The author-addresses of all authors were extracted from the publications. We searched the author-address of all publications to determine whether enrolment countries and sponsors listed on registrations also appeared on a matched publication. Of all sponsors, 80.1% were listed with an author-address on the publication. Of all enrolment countries, 50.3% appeared with an author-address on the publication. The listing of enrolment countries was especially low for industry-funded trials (39.9%) as compared to government (90.4%) and not-for-profit funding (93.7%). We found that listing of enrolment countries in industry-funded trials was higher for traditional research locations such as the United States (98.2%) and Japan (72.0%) as compared to nontraditional research locations such as Poland (27.3%) and Mexico (14.1%). Conclusions Despite patient enrolment efforts, the involvement of researchers from nontraditional locations in trial management as measured by their contribution to manuscript writing is modest. This division of labor has significant implications for the scientific and ethical integrity of global clinical research

Demanding stories: television coverage of sustainability, climate change and material demand

This paper explores the past, present and future role of broadcasting, above all via the medium of television, in shaping how societies talk, think about and act on climate change and sustainability issues. The paper explores these broad themes via a focus on the important but relatively neglected issue of material demand and opportunities for its reduction. It takes the outputs and decision-making of one of the world’s most influential broadcasters, the BBC, as its primary focus. The paper considers these themes in terms of stories, touching on some of the broader societal frames of understanding into which they can be grouped. Media decision-makers and producers from a range of genres frequently return to the centrality of ‘story’ in the development, commissioning and production of an idea. With reference to specific examples of programming, and drawing on interviews with media practitioners, the paper considers the challenges of generating broadcast stories that can inspire engagement in issues around climate change, and specifically material demand. The concluding section proposes actions and approaches that might help to establish material demand reduction as a prominent way of thinking about climate change and environmental issues more widely. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Material demand reduction’

Основні властивості джерел конституційного права України

Аналізуються проблеми системи джерел конституційного права України, висвітлюються особливості як системи джерел конституційного права України в цілому, так і окремих її складових. Підкреслюється необхідність наукового обґрунтування юридичної природи та системно-ієрархічних зв’язків між складовими системи джерел консти­туційного права.Аналтизуються проблемы системы источников конституционного права Украины, рассматриваются особенности системы источников конституционного права Украи­ны в целом и отдельных её составляющих. Подчеркивается необходимость научного обоснования юридической природы и системно-иерархических взаимоотношений меж­ду осотавляющими системы конституционного права Украины.The author devoted to the study of selected problems of the system of sources of Ukrainian constitutional law, covers in detail the peculiarities of the system of sources of Ukrainian constitutional law as a whole and its components