Sharp Power: Critical Analysis in Modern Scientific Discourse

The purpose of the article is a critical analysis of the sharp power concept developed by Ch. Walker and J. Ludwig, the staff of the National Endowment for Democracy. The researchers comprehend sharp power as all the forms of foreign policy influence of illiberal regimes and actually deny their ability to use soft power technologies. Since this thesis is becoming particularly relevant due to the escalating confrontation between the collective West and countries that are commonly referred to as illiberal democracies or authoritarian regimes, the authors of the article attempt to conceptualize sharp power through critical analysis of works of foreign and domestic scientists devoted to both the polemic with Ch. Walker and J. Ludwig, and the development of an alternative interpretation of the sharp power concept. J. Nye, the father of the soft and smart power concepts, argues that sharp power is nothing but a new term to describe one of the aspects of hard power. At the same time, numerous Western researchers consider sharp power as a phenomenon independent of the soft power concept. Russian researchers go beyond the Western mainstream and point not only to the hybrid nature of this concept but also to its opportunistic interpretation. The authors of the article conclude that the application of sharp power technologies is not an inherent property of the activities of illiberal countries, but a universal phenomenon that serves to describe destructive practices using soft power resources. It is necessary to abandon the politicization of the sharp power concept so that it can be applied as an independent analytical framework

Extrinsic CPT Violation in Neutrino Oscillations in Matter

We investigate matter-induced (or extrinsic) CPT violation effects in neutrino oscillations in matter. Especially, we present approximate analytical formulas for the CPT-violating probability differences for three flavor neutrino oscillations in matter with an arbitrary matter density profile. Note that we assume that the CPT invariance theorem holds, which means that the CPT violation effects arise entirely because of the presence of matter. As special cases of matter density profiles, we consider constant and step-function matter density profiles, which are relevant for neutrino oscillation physics in accelerator and reactor long baseline experiments as well as neutrino factories. Finally, the implications of extrinsic CPT violation on neutrino oscillations in matter for several past, present, and future long baseline experiments are estimated.Comment: 47 pages, 7 figures, RevTeX4. Final version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Composition of Fluids Responsible for Gold Mineralization in the Pechenga Structure-Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone Belt, Kola Peninsula, Russia.

This study presents the first fluid inclusion data from quartz of albite–carbonate–quartz altered rocks and metasomatic quartzite hosting gold mineralization in the Pechenga structure of the Pechenga– Imandra–Varzuga greenstone belt. A temperature of 275–370°C, pressure of 1.2–4.5 kbar, and the fluid composition of gold-bearing fluid are estimated by microthermometry, Raman spectroscopy, and LA-ICP-MS of individual fluid inclusions, as well as by bulk chemical analyses of fluid inclusions. In particular, the Au and Ag concentrations have been determined in fluid inclusions. It is shown that albite–carbonate–quartz altered rocks and metasomatic quartzite interacted with fluids of similar chemical composition but under different physicochemical conditions. It is concluded that the gold-bearing fluid in the Pechenga structure is similar to that of orogenic gold deposits

Measurement of solubility of plutonium trifluoride and rare-earth fluorides in molten LiF-BeF{sub 2}-ZrF{sub 4}

Data on behavior of plutonium fluoride and fission products (FP) dissolved in fuel composition are needed to calculate the duration of an operating cycle of the ADTT facility (Accelerator-Driver Transmutation Technologies) and to determine the effect of their equilibrium concentrations on nuclear-physical characteristics of reactor operation. The data on the FP fluoride solubility in the molten salts are of great important for some industrial processes (electrolytical metal deposition, development of physical-chemical mean for processes of chemical technology, etc.) As noted above, some information on this question is given in monography and articles. Data concerning fluoride salts are given in reports. However, it was impossible to make the substantial analysis of mutual solubility of fluoride melts. The primary investigation of CeF{sub 3} and neodymium, samarium and lanthanum fluorides showed that the solubility of the melt LiF-BeF{sub 2} and LiF-BeF{sub 2}-ThF{sub 4} was a linear function of reverse temperature and increases from lanthanum to samarium in the row of rare-earth elements. Disagreement in estimation of plutonium trifluoride solubility and incomplete data on the solubility of rare-earth elements prompted this study

Modeling of three-phase electric motor operation by the MATLAB system with deteriorated power quality in the 0.38 kV distribution networks

One of the main operation modes that characterizes power quality in distribution networks is asymmetry of three-phase voltage system. Operation of an induction motor (IM) with disturbed voltage symmetry in the supply network can not be considered as a rated one. The system of voltages applied to the stator winding of IM under these conditions contains positive- and negative-sequence components. This worsens the performance characteristics of IM essentially. In order to balance the 0.38 kV network operation and enhance the efficiency of the three-phase electric motor operation it is suggested to use a special balancing unit (BU) that minimizes the negative-sequence components of current and voltage. The operation modes of the obtained system “supply source – induction motor – balancing unit” are simulated within the MATLAB software package of applied programs, which allows one to assess the impact of low quality of power on the operating characteristics of the electric motor and the efficiency of the balancing unit to increase the “durability” of the motor under the asymmetrical power consumption

The origin and emergence of life under impact bombardment

Craters formed by asteroids and comets offer a number of possibilities as sites for prebiotic chemistry, and they invite a literal application of Darwin's ‘warm little pond’. Some of these attributes, such as prolonged circulation of heated water, are found in deep-ocean hydrothermal vent systems, previously proposed as sites for prebiotic chemistry. However, impact craters host important characteristics in a single location, which include the formation of diverse metal sulphides, clays and zeolites as secondary hydrothermal minerals (which can act as templates or catalysts for prebiotic syntheses), fracturing of rock during impact (creating a large surface area for reactions), the delivery of iron in the case of the impact of iron-containing meteorites (which might itself act as a substrate for prebiotic reactions), diverse impact energies resulting in different rates of hydrothermal cooling and thus organic syntheses, and the indiscriminate nature of impacts into every available lithology—generating large numbers of ‘experiments’ in the origin of life. Following the evolution of life, craters provide cryptoendolithic and chasmoendolithic habitats, particularly in non-sedimentary lithologies, where limited pore space would otherwise restrict colonization. In impact melt sheets, shattered, mixed rocks ultimately provided diverse geochemical gradients, which in present-day craters support the growth of microbial communities