Protonation-Induced Charge Transfer and Polaron Formation in Organic Semiconductors Doped by Lewis Acids

Lewis acid doping of organic semiconductors (OSCs) opens up new ways of p-type doping and has recently become of significant interest. As for the mechanistic understanding, it was recently proposed that upon protonation of the OSC backbone, electron transfer occurs between the protonated polymer chain and a neutral chain nearby, inducing a positive charge carrier in the latter [Nat. Mater. 18, 1327 (2019)]. To further clarify the underlying microscopic processes on a molecular level, in the present work, we analyze the influence of protons on the electronic properties of the widely used PCPDT–BT copolymer. We find that single protonation of the polymer chain leads to the formation of a polaron coupled to the position of the proton. Upon protonation of the same chain with a second proton, an intrachain electron transfer occurs, leaving behind a polaron largely decoupled from the proton positions. We also observe the possibility of an interchain electron transfer from a neutral chain to a double protonated chain in agreement with the mechanism recently proposed in the literature. The simulated vertical excitation spectra for an ensemble of protonated species with different amounts of protons enable a detailed interpretation of experimental observation on PCPDT–BT doped with the Lewis acid BCF. Our results further suggest that multi-protonation plays an important role for completing the mechanistic picture of Lewis acid doping of OSCs.

Design and Testing of Two Haptic Devices Based on Reconfigurable 2R Joints

This paper presents the design and testing of two haptic devices, based on reconfigurable 2R joints: an active 2R spherical mechanism-based joint and a differential gear-based joint. Based on our previous works, in which the design and kinematic analysis of both reconfigurable joints were developed, the experimental setup and the various tasks intended to test the reconfigurability, precision, force feedback system and general performance, are presented herein. Two control modes for the haptic device operation are proposed and studied. The statistical analysis tools and their selection principles are described. The mechanical design of two experimental setups and the main elements are considered in detail. The Robot Operating System nodes and the topics that are used in the software component of the experimental setup are presented and explained. The experimental testing was carried out with a number of participants and the corresponding results were analyzed with the selected statistical tools. A detailed interpretation and discussion on of the results is provided.

Counting the Letters of the Alphabet. A Reading of Plutarch, Quaestiones convivales 9.3

The last book of Plutarch’s Quaestiones convivales contains several discussions of literary and grammatical topics. The present article focuses on Quaest. conv. 9.3, which deals with the number of the letters in the alphabet. This question is raised by ‘Plutarch’ to Hermeias the geometer. It is first argued that this qualifies as an excellent sympotic question (according to Plutarch’s own standards). Then, attention is given to the solution proposed by ‘Plutarch’ himself (738DE), to the learned reply by Hermeias (738EF), and to the final critical evaluation by Zopyrio (738F-739A). This detailed interpretation of the Quaestio should help in revealing the argumentative dynamics of Plutarch’s philosophical approach in the Quaestiones convivales.

Law of Ukraine «On Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine»: declaration of rights and their further implementation»

Keywords: Indigenous peoples, Crimean Tatars, Karaites, Krymchaks, Gagauzpeople, representation, legal status, self-determination, language, culture, traditions,people, identity The article analyses indetail the legal status and certain types of rights as signed to indigenous peoples ofUkraine under the recently adopted Law of Ukraine «On Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine». The criteria of belonging of separate communities to the indigenous peoplesof Ukraine, features of realization by these peoples of their collective rights, and alsorealization by separate representatives of indigenous peoples of their individualrights in the corresponding spheres are defined. The study also defines the characteristicsof the indigenous people, which distinguish this concept from other related concepts,in particular, the concept of national minority. Also, the article, based on theaforementioned Law, determines why only the indigenous peoples of Crimea:Crimean Tatars, Karaites and Krymchaks can be recognized as indigenous peoples ofUkraine, in contrast to the Gagauz people, who currently in Ukraine’s Odessa region.The study also highlights the peculiarities of the representation of indigenous peoplesof Ukraine at the local, national and international levels. A detailed interpretation ofthe provisions of the Law clarifies its role and significance, as well as prospects for theimplementation of its provisions in the future. The specifics of the representation ofindigenous peoples in Ukraine have been studied, in particular through the functioningof separate representative bodies of indigenous peoples, as well as the representationof the aforementioned communities within public authorities and local governments.The process and peculiarities of interaction of the representative bodies of theindigenous peoples of Ukraine with the bodies of state power and local self-governmentin Ukraine are analysed, along with the specifics of the legal status of such bodiesof the indigenous peoples. The publication proves the need for further the legislativeprocess to implement the requirements of the law, as well as the development ofdetailed and transparent mechanisms for such implementation.

Immunosuppressive Sesquiterpenoids from the Edible Mushroom Craterellus odoratus

The aim of this work was to comprehensively understand the chemical constituents of the edible mushroom Craterellus ordoratus and their bioactivity. A chemical investigation on this mushroom led to the isolation of 23 sesquiterpenoids including eighteen previously undescribed bergamotane sesquiterpenes, craterodoratins A–R (1–18), and one new victoxinine derivative, craterodoratin S (19). The new structures were elucidated by detailed interpretation of spectrometric data, theoretical nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations, and single-crystal X-ray crystallographic analysis. Compounds 1 and 2 possess a ring-rearranged carbon skeleton. Compounds 3, 10, 12–15, 19, 20 and 23 exhibit potent inhibitory activity against the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced proliferation of B lymphocyte cells with the IC50 values ranging from 0.67 to 22.68 μM. Compounds 17 and 20 inhibit the concanavalin A (ConA)-induced proliferation of T lymphocyte cell with IC50 values of 31.50 and 0.98 μM, respectively. It is suggested that C. ordoratus is a good source for bergamotane sesquiterpenoids, and their immunosuppressive activity was reported for the first time. This research is conducive to the further development and utilization of C. ordoratus.

Interpretation of Non-Exhaust Brake Emission Standard: Laboratory Testing

Now there are more and more new energy vehicles on the road, compare to the traditional vehicles that use the oil to offer the power, the new energy vehicles use electric or hydrogen to offer the power, which have no exhaust pollution emission, but also have non-exhaust emission. Brake and tyre system are the special components of vehicles due to the frequent replacement, they are the main source of the non-exhaust emission. Brake system is one of the most important safety systems of vehicles. The system can reduce the speed of the vehicle and keep the vehicle stable when going downhill. Friction between brake disc and pads or shoes during driving creates small particles that are released into the atmosphere, soil and rivers. The particles have different dimensions, some element or matter inside maybe harmful to human and environment. So it is very important to know more about the non-exhaust brake emission. Here, we focus on the specification of GRPE-81-12 “Non-Exhaust Brake Emissions – Laboratory testing – Part 1: Inertia Dynamometer Protocol to Measure and Characterise Brake Emissions Using the WLTP-Brake Cycle” and do the detailed interpretation.

Some Aspects of Western Taranaki Geology and Pedology

<p>The North Island of New Zealand is the southern end of an island arc structure which stretches 3000 km northwards to Samoa. It comprises the Hikurangi Trench to the east of the North Island (Houtz, et.al. 1967), a central negative gravity anomaly (Robertson and Reilly 1958) and two volcanic zones to the west of the gravity anomaly (Cole 1967). The volcanic zones comprise the Ohakune-White Island zone of calc-alkaline volcanoes and a western zone of more alkaline volcanoes from Northland to Taranaki. The Taranaki volcanoes are principally high potash low magnesia hornblende-andesites (Hatherton 1968a) which extend 25 km south from New Plymouth to Mt. Egmont. Volcanological investigations on the Taranaki andesites have previously been limited to petrological, geomorphic and Recent tree-ring dating studies. The following work involves detailed studies on the tephrochronology, lahar stratigraphy, weathering and soil formation in western Taranaki together with a detailed interpretation of Quaternary volcanic and climatic events.</p>

Some Aspects of Western Taranaki Geology and Pedology

<p>The North Island of New Zealand is the southern end of an island arc structure which stretches 3000 km northwards to Samoa. It comprises the Hikurangi Trench to the east of the North Island (Houtz, et.al. 1967), a central negative gravity anomaly (Robertson and Reilly 1958) and two volcanic zones to the west of the gravity anomaly (Cole 1967). The volcanic zones comprise the Ohakune-White Island zone of calc-alkaline volcanoes and a western zone of more alkaline volcanoes from Northland to Taranaki. The Taranaki volcanoes are principally high potash low magnesia hornblende-andesites (Hatherton 1968a) which extend 25 km south from New Plymouth to Mt. Egmont. Volcanological investigations on the Taranaki andesites have previously been limited to petrological, geomorphic and Recent tree-ring dating studies. The following work involves detailed studies on the tephrochronology, lahar stratigraphy, weathering and soil formation in western Taranaki together with a detailed interpretation of Quaternary volcanic and climatic events.</p>

Expert-analytical Support of Foreign Policy Activities

The article presents the final results of the project studying the system of expert and analytical support for foreign policy decisions. The project is devoted to conducting a survey and a set of interviews with employees of government bodies (leaders and chief specialists) who are involved in the process of preparing and making foreign policy decisions. The article contains the officials’ assessment of the main challenges when interacting with the scientific and expert community, as well as a "desired image" of such interaction.The study was held in two stages (stage I in February-October 2020, stage II-in January-August 2021) in the form of a survey with a set of follow-up interviews for a more detailed interpretation of the data obtained. The interviewees included 24 employees of federal executive bodies (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and Rossotrudnichestvo; departments of international cooperation of line ministries, agencies and services); offices of the chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (departments providing international and inter-parliamentary cooperation). All participants of the study are in positions of the "managers" category or are part of the group of "chief specialists", that is, they have experience in decision-making process and/or in elaborating them. The survey and interviews were anonymous. The research is within structural-functional, institutional and regulatory approaches. The authors note that informational materials with low level of generalization and lacking recommendations and forecasts will never replace genuine analytics and expertise. Given the development of artificial intelligence, generalizing information will be automatized. As a result, expertise has to be of better quality.

Semantic Explanation for Deep Neural Networks Using Feature Interactions

Given the promising results obtained by deep-learning techniques in multimedia analysis, the explainability of predictions made by networks has become important in practical applications. We present a method to generate semantic and quantitative explanations that are easily interpretable by humans. The previous work to obtain such explanations has focused on the contributions of each feature, taking their sum to be the prediction result for a target variable; the lack of discriminative power due to this simple additive formulation led to low explanatory performance. Our method considers not only individual features but also their interactions, for a more detailed interpretation of the decisions made by networks. The algorithm is based on the factorization machine, a prediction method that calculates factor vectors for each feature. We conducted experiments on multiple datasets with different models to validate our method, achieving higher performance than the previous work. We show that including interactions not only generates explanations but also makes them richer and is able to convey more information. We show examples of produced explanations in a simple visual format and verify that they are easily interpretable and plausible.