E-mobility solutions for urban transportation:User needs across four continents

Aiming at setting up a global platform for e-mobility solutions, the EU-funded project SOLUTIONSplus (2020–2023) established nine living labs in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America to test innovative solutions involving new services, business models, vehicle types, and charging systems. A user needs analysis was undertaken in all project cities. The paper summarizes the main findings of this analysis and investigates the effect of the external environment on user needs. The perceived importance of electric vehicles in mobility patterns, quality of life, and city environment is examined, along with expected challenges in the respective market penetration. It is found that these perceptions are correlated with external factors such as air pollution or traffic congestion, leading to possible adjustments of the e-mobility promoting efforts according to the local stakeholder priorities

Quantum state preparation and macroscopic entanglement in gravitational-wave detectors

Long-baseline laser-interferometer gravitational-wave detectors are operating at a factor of 10 (in amplitude) above the standard quantum limit (SQL) within a broad frequency band. Such a low classical noise budget has already allowed the creation of a controlled 2.7 kg macroscopic oscillator with an effective eigenfrequency of 150 Hz and an occupation number of 200. This result, along with the prospect for further improvements, heralds the new possibility of experimentally probing macroscopic quantum mechanics (MQM) - quantum mechanical behavior of objects in the realm of everyday experience - using gravitational-wave detectors. In this paper, we provide the mathematical foundation for the first step of a MQM experiment: the preparation of a macroscopic test mass into a nearly minimum-Heisenberg-limited Gaussian quantum state, which is possible if the interferometer's classical noise beats the SQL in a broad frequency band. Our formalism, based on Wiener filtering, allows a straightforward conversion from the classical noise budget of a laser interferometer, in terms of noise spectra, into the strategy for quantum state preparation, and the quality of the prepared state. Using this formalism, we consider how Gaussian entanglement can be built among two macroscopic test masses, and the performance of the planned Advanced LIGO interferometers in quantum-state preparation

Searching for a Stochastic Background of Gravitational Waves with LIGO

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) has performed the fourth science run, S4, with significantly improved interferometer sensitivities with respect to previous runs. Using data acquired during this science run, we place a limit on the amplitude of a stochastic background of gravitational waves. For a frequency independent spectrum, the new limit is $\Omega_{\rm GW} < 6.5 \times 10^{-5}$. This is currently the most sensitive result in the frequency range 51-150 Hz, with a factor of 13 improvement over the previous LIGO result. We discuss complementarity of the new result with other constraints on a stochastic background of gravitational waves, and we investigate implications of the new result for different models of this background.Comment: 37 pages, 16 figure

Ferromagnetic MnSb2Te4: A p-type topological insulator with magnetic gap closing at high Curie temperatures of 45-50K

Resumen del trabajo presentado al APS March Meeting, celebrado de forma virtual del 13 al 19 de marzo de 2021Mn enables the formation of intrinsic magnetic topological insulatorsfor the quantum anomalous Hall effect with A1B2C4 stoichiometry, e. g., antiferromagnetic MnBi2Te4 with 25 K Néel temperature. Here, we showthat p-type MnSb2Te4, previously considered topologically trivial, is a ferromagnetic topological insulator with high Curie temperature of 45 to 50 K.It displays out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy, the nontrivial topology is robust in band structure calculations towards magnetic disorder, provides aDirac point of the topological surface state close to the Fermi level with out-of-plane spin polarization in spin-ARPES, and exhibits a magneticallyinduced band gap of 17 meV that closes at the Curie temperature as demonstrated by scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Moreover, it displays acritical exponent of magnetization β≈1, indicating the vicinity of a quantum critical point. We identify the influences of structural and magneticdisorder that render MnSb2Te4 the ideal system for tuning electric and magnetic properties of quantum anomalous Hall systems.Peer reviewe

The Princeton Process on the Crime of Aggression: Materials of the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression, 2003-2009

From 2003-2009, the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression, created by the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC), struggled with the question of how to define the crime of aggression. The Group was also mandated to specify the conditions under which the ICC should be allowed to prosecute this crime, in particular in light of the responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security. The Group, which was open to government representatives from all states, made most of its remarkable progress at informal meetings hosted by the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University. This compilation of documents related to the "Princeton Process"¿five rounds of intergovernmental negotiations held by the UN's Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression (SWGCA) at Princeton University¿s Woodrow Wilson School in 2004-2009¿captures the complexities of the issues at stake. The volume includes all reports of the SWGCA, as well as selected documents that provide context for the reports

The Princeton Process on the Crime of Aggression: Materials of the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression, 2003-2009

From 2003-2009, the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression, created by the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC), struggled with the question of how to define the crime of aggression. The Group was also mandated to specify the conditions under which the ICC should be allowed to prosecute this crime, in particular in light of the responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security. The Group, which was open to government representatives from all states, made most of its remarkable progress at informal meetings hosted by the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University. This compilation of documents related to the "Princeton Process"—five rounds of intergovernmental negotiations held by the UN's Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression (SWGCA) at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School in 2004-2009—captures the complexities of the issues at stake. The volume includes all reports of the SWGCA, as well as selected documents that provide context for the reports

The other side of the (policy) coin : analyzing exnovation policies for the urban mobility transition in eight cities around the globe

Many cities all over the world highlight the need to transform their urban mobility systems into more sustainable ones, to confront pressing issues such as air and noise pollution, and to deliver on climate change mitigation action. While the support of innovations is high on the agenda of both national and local authorities, consciously phasing-out unsustainable technologies and practices is often neglected. However, this other side of the policy coin, "exnovation", is a crucial element for the mobility transition. We developed a framework to facilitate a more comprehensive assessment of urban mobility transition policies, systematically integrating exnovation policies. It links exnovation functions as identified in transition studies with insights from urban mobility studies and empirical findings from eight city case studies around the world. The findings suggest that most cities use some kinds of exnovation policies to address selective urban mobility issues, e.g., phasing-out diesel buses, restricting the use of polluting motor vehicles in some parts of the city, etc. Still, we found no evidence for a systematic exnovation approach alongside the innovation policies. Our framework specifies exnovation functions for the urban mobility transition by lining out policy levers and concrete measure examples. We hope that the framework inspires future in-depth research, but also political action to advance the urban mobility transition

Evaluating Online Consumer Medication Information Systems: Comparative Online Usability Study

Background: Medication is the most common intervention in health care, and the number of online consumer information systems within the pharmaceutical sector is increasing. However, online consumer information systems can be a barrier for users, imposing information asymmetries between stakeholders. Objective: The objective of this study was to quantify and compare the usability of an online consumer medication information system (OCMIS) against a reference implementation based on an interoperable information model for patients, physicians, and pharmacists. Methods: Quantitative and qualitative data were acquired from patients, physicians, and pharmacists in this online usability study. We administered 3 use cases and a post hoc questionnaire per user. Quantitative usability data including effectiveness (task success), efficiency (task time), and user satisfaction (system usability scale [SUS]) was complemented by qualitative and demographic data. Users evaluated 6 existing systems and 1 reference implementation of an OCMIS. Results: A total of 137 patients, 81 physicians, and 68 pharmacists participated in this study. Task success varied from 84% to 92% in patients, 66% to 100% in physicians, and 50% to 91% in pharmacists. Task completion time decreased over the course of the study for all but 2 OCMIS within the patient group. Due to an assumed nonnormal distribution of SUS scores, within-group comparison was done using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Patients showed differences in SUS scores (P=.02) and task time (P=.03), while physicians did not have significant differences in SUS scores (P=.83) and task time (P=.72). For pharmacists, a significant difference in SUS scores (P<.001) and task time (P=.007) was detected. Conclusions: The vendor-neutral reference implementation based on an interoperable information model was proven to be a promising approach that was not inferior to existing solutions for patients and physicians. For pharmacists, it exceeded user satisfaction scores compared to other OCMIS. This data-driven approach based on an interoperable information model enables the development of more user-tailored features to increase usability. This fosters data democratization and empowers stakeholders within the pharmaceutical sector.Centro Nacional en Sistemas de Informacion en Salud CORFO 16CTTS-66390 Biomedical Neuroscience Institute (ICM) P09-015-F DAAD PAGEL CHIP: Chilean Health Info and Process Challenge DAAD 57220037 Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) DAAD 57314603 MOLIT Institut