The environmental component of ESG factors from the standpoint of management in a closed-loop economy

Various approaches to the implementation of the concept of extended producer responsibility in the European Union are considered, and the features of the introduction and use of the closed-cycle economy in European countries are determined. Some examples of the impact of waste legislation on the production cycle of a product in the European Union are considered, as well as the main obstacles that manufacturers had to face when trying to introduce the extended producer responsibility concept in its current form into production. The key problems of using and implementing the concept under consideration in the economy are highlighted. The interrelation of ESG factors as guidelines for strategic development with the need for the development of mechanisms of extended producer responsibility is shown. The prospects for the development of extended producer responsibility in Russian production are also outlined

Spin excitations of the correlated semiconductor FeSi probed by THz radiation

By direct measurements of the complex optical conductivity $\sigma(\nu)$ of FeSi we have discovered a broad absorption peak centered at frequency $\nu_{0}(4.2 K) \approx 32 cm^{-1}$ that develops at temperatures below 20 K. This feature is caused by spin-polaronic states formed in the middle of the gap in the electronic density of states. We observe the spin excitations between the electronic levels split by the exchange field of $H_{e}=34\pm 6 T$. Spin fluctuations are identified as the main factor determining the formation of the spin polarons and the rich magnetic phase diagram of FeSi.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Generative User-Experience Research for Developing Domain-specific Natural Language Processing Applications

User experience (UX) is a part of human-computer interaction (HCI) research and focuses on increasing intuitiveness, transparency, simplicity, and trust for system users. Most of the UX research for machine learning (ML) or natural language processing (NLP) focuses on a data-driven methodology, i.e., it fails to focus on users' requirements, and engages domain users mainly for usability evaluation. Moreover, more typical UX methods tailor the systems towards user usability, unlike learning about the user needs first. The paper proposes a methodology for integrating generative UX research into developing domain NLP applications. Generative UX research employs domain users at the initial stages of prototype development, i.e., ideation and concept evaluation, and the last stage for evaluating the change in user value. In the case study, we report the full-cycle prototype development of a domain-specific semantic search for daily operations in the process industry. Our case study shows that involving domain experts increases their interest and trust in the final NLP application. Moreover, we show that synergetic UX+NLP research efficiently considers data- and user-driven opportunities and constraints, which can be crucial for NLP applications in narrow domain

IR Thermographic System Supplied with an Ordered Fiber Bundle for Investigation of Power Engineering Equipment and Units

In this article, the authors propose an IR imaging system, supplied with an IR bundle of ordered silver halide fibers, for the acquisition of 2D temperature field distribution in hard-to-reach places. We assessed crosstalk between neighboring individual fibers of the bundle, carried out calibration of the IR imaging system, and determined modelled defects using this system. The results showed the applicability of the system for the inspection and investigation of power engineering units. Keywords: IR fiber bundles, IR thermography, internal defects detectio