The effectiveness of goal-directed human behavior and the processes underlying organization of such activity are the subjects of various biomedical studies. Here we review both classical and modern ...evidence on the fundamental principles of goal-directed human activity. Facts are presented about the basic mechanisms that ensure the effectiveness of goal-directed behavior and determine its physiological cost.
Abstract
Unlike conventional planar Josephson junctions, nanowire-based devices have a bridge geometry with a peculiar coupling to environment that can favor non-equilibrium electronic phenomena. ...Here we measure the influence of the electron bath overheating on critical current of several bridge-like junctions built on a single Au-nanowire. Using the Usadel theory and applying the two-fluid description for the normal and superconducting components of the flowing currents, we reveal and explain the mutual influence of the neighbouring junctions on their characteristics through various processes of the electron gas overheating. Our results provide additional ways to control nanowire-based superconducting devices.
When applied to matter and antimatter states, the Pauli master equation (PME) may have two forms: time-symmetric, which is conventional, and time-antisymmetric, which is suggested in the present ...work. The symmetric and antisymmetric forms correspond to symmetric and antisymmetric extensions of thermodynamics from matter to antimatter - this is demonstrated by proving the corresponding H-theorem. The two forms are based on the thermodynamic similarity of matter and antimatter and differ only in the directions of thermodynamic time for matter and antimatter (the same in the time-symmetric case and the opposite in the time-antisymmetric case). We demonstrate that, while the symmetric form of PME predicts an equibalance between matter and antimatter, the antisymmetric form of PME favours full conversion of antimatter into matter. At this stage, it is impossible to make an experimentally justified choice in favour of the symmetric or antisymmetric versions of thermodynamics since we have no experience of thermodynamic properties of macroscopic objects made of antimatter, but experiments of this kind may become possible in the future.
The aims of this work are to analyze the changes in the world power industry during the time after the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992 and to assess the ...extent to which the commitments of the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 have been met and evaluate the prospects of implementing the tasks of the Paris Agreement of 2015. Based on data on the production and consumption of various kinds of energy and the emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, in 1990–2017, changes in the structure of the global energy consumption, trends in electric power generation, and the influence of different factors on the carbon dioxide emissions in power-generating enterprises are investigated. It is shown that the power industry, which is the main source of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs), is the most inertial branch of the economy in terms of its contribution to the reduction in GHG emissions. Thus, in the first 2008–2012 commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, GHG emissions in the state parties to the protocol decreased by 7.6% compared the base year, while other GHG sources reduced the emission by 18%. The corresponding figures for the following 2013–2017 commitment period were 10.6 and 17.1%, respectively. The maximum reduction in the carbon dioxide emissions in the power industry resulted from an increase in the global average efficiency of the thermal power stations from 32% in 1990 to 36% in 2017; as a consequence, the cumulative decrease in the CO
2
emissions in the world during the 1990–2017 period was approximately 22 billion t. The increase in the electric power generation at HPPs and NPPs resulted in a reduction in GHG emissions by 16.7 and 10.7 billion t, respectively. The substitution of coal and fuel oil by gas at thermal power stations facilitated reducing the emissions by 5.2 billion t, while the use of renewable energy sources for generation of electric energy resulted in a reduction of 1.1 billion t. The contribution of the carbon capture and storage technologies amounting to only 0.2 billion t is not noticeable so far.
This work proposes a series of quantum experiments that can, at least in principle, allow for examining microscopic mechanisms associated with decoherence. These experiments can be interpreted as a ...quantum-mechanical version of non-equilibrium mixing between two volumes separated by a thin interface. One of the principal goals of such experiments is in identifying non-equilibrium conditions when time-symmetric laws give way to time-directional, irreversible processes, which are represented by decoherence at the quantum level. The rate of decoherence is suggested to be examined indirectly, with minimal intrusions—this can be achieved by measuring tunnelling rates that, in turn, are affected by decoherence. Decoherence is understood here as a general process that does not involve any significant exchanges of energy and governed by a particular class of the Kraus operators. The present work analyses different regimes of tunnelling in the presence of decoherence and obtains formulae that link the corresponding rates of tunnelling and decoherence under different conditions. It is shown that the effects on tunnelling of intrinsic decoherence and of decoherence due to unitary interactions with the environment are similar but not the same and can be distinguished in experiments.
We examine the influence of superconductivity on the magneto-transport properties of a ferromagnetic Ni nanowire connected to Nb electrodes. We show experimentally and confirm theoretically that the ...Nb/Ni interface plays an essential role in the electron transport through the device. Just below the superconducting transition, a strong inverse proximity effect from the nanowire suppresses superconducting correlations at Nb/Ni interfaces, resulting in a conventional anisotropic magneto-resistive response. At lower temperatures however, the Nb electrodes operate as superconducting shunts. As the result, the magneto-resistance exhibits a strongly growing hysteretic behavior accompanied by a series of saw-like jumps. The latter are associated with the penetration/escape of individual Abrikosov vortices that influence non-equilibrium processes at the Nb/Ni interface. These effects should be taken into account when designing superconducting quantum nano-hybrids involving ferromagnetic nanowires.
The prospects for reducing the carbon intensity of the Russian economy and the possibility of achieving climate neutrality of the national economy by 2060 are studied. On the basis of a ...historical-extrapolation approach to the study of the development of various sociotechnical systems by comparison with the dynamics of carbon indicators of the economies of the leading countries of the world, it is shown that full compensation for anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by absorption by the biosphere (primarily forests) is theoretically possible with implementation of difficult-to-implement large-scale reform programs in all sectors of the country’s economy—from energy to forestry. Thus, in an optimistic scenario, the rate of decline in specific GHG emissions per capita should be the maximum value achieved in the world over the past 50 years at 1% per year, and forest management should include full compensation for growing deforestation and a 50% reduction in forest losses from fires, which are currently the second (after energy) source of GHG emissions into the atmosphere. The most likely scenario is one with a rate of reduction in specific GHG emissions per capita of 0.5%/year, and a significant reduction in the sinking capacity of forests to the level of 1990 due to the aging of forests and imperfect reforestation activities. Under the latter scenario, net GHG emissions by 2060 could reach 0.7 Gt CO
2eq
, which would require the creation of a national industry for large-scale carbon capture and storage in order to achieve climate neutrality of the Russian economy.
The prospects for reducing the carbon intensity of the Russian economy and the possibility of achieving climate neutrality of the country’s national economy by 2060 are examined. Based on a ...historical-extrapolation approach to the study of the development of various socio-technical systems and by comparing the dynamics of carbon indicators of the economies of Russia and the leading countries of the world, it is shown that full compensation of anthropogenic greenhouse gases emissions when absorbed by the biosphere (primarily forests) is today rather only theoretically possible. The condition for this is the implementation of extremely ambitious large-scale reform programs in all sectors of the Russian economy, from energy to forestry. Thus, in an optimistic scenario, the decline rate of specific indicators of greenhouse gas emissions per capita should have the maximum values achieved in the world over the last 50 years, i.e. 1%/year. Forest management must include full compensation for increasing deforestation and a 50% reduction in forest losses from fires, which are currently the second (after energy) source of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. The most likely scenario is one in which the decline rate of specific greenhouse gas emissions per capita is 0.5%/year and a moderate increase in the absorption capacity of forests is ensured, mainly due to the implementation of forest climate projects and a reduction in wildfire emissions. If the latter scenario is implemented, net greenhouse gas emissions could amount to approximately 700 Mt CO
2
(equiv.) by 2060, which will require the nation’s carbon capture and storage industry on an unprecedented scale to achieve climate neutrality.
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