Much modern social theory depicts society as made up of autonomous and purposive individual and organized actors. In reaction, the new institutional theories build arguments about the wider social ...conditions supporting stable systems of such agentic actors. Phenomenological versions, which are especially relevant to analyses of modern integrating but stateless world society, treat actor identities as themselves constructed in the wider and now global cultural context. These ideas call attention to the modern collective construction of expansive models of actors, the rapid diffusion and adoption of elaborated models of actor agency and rights, the consequently decoupled character of actor identities and activities in the modern system, and the extraordinary mobilizing potential built into the elaborated models of individual and organizational actors in world society and into the inconsistencies between these models and activity.
"The authors analyze the rapid worldwide expansion of higher educational enrollments over the twentieth century using pooled panel regressions. Expansion is higher in economically developed countries ...(in some but not all analyses) as classic theories would have it. Growth is greater where secondary enrollments are high and where state control over education is low, consistent with conflict and competition theories. Institutional theories get strong support: growth patterns are similar in all types of countries, are especially high in countries more linked to world society, and sharply accelerate in virtually all countries after 1960. The authors theorize and operationalize the institutional processes involved, which include scientization, democratization and the expansion of human rights, the rise of development planning, and the structuration of the world polity. With these changes, a new model of society became institutionalized globally - one in which schooled knowledge and personnel were seen as appropriate for a wide variety of social positions, and in which many more young people were seen as appropriate candidates for higher education. An older vision of education as contributing to a more closed society and occupational system - with associated fears of 'over-education' - was replaced by an open-system picture of education as useful 'human capital' for unlimited progress. The global trends are so strong that developing countries now have higher enrollment rates than European countries did only a few decades ago, and currently about one-fifth of the world cohort is now enrolled in higher education." Die Untersuchung enthält quantitative Daten. Forschungsmethode: empirisch-quantitativ; empirisch; historisch. Die Untersuchung bezieht sich auf den Zeitraum 1900 bis 2000. (author's abstract, IAB-Doku).
Micro‐plastic marine debris is widely distributed in vast regions of the subtropical gyres and has emerged as a major open ocean pollutant. The fate and transport of plastic marine debris is governed ...by poorly understood geophysical processes, such as ocean mixing within the surface boundary layer. Based on profile observations and a one‐dimensional column model, we demonstrate that plastic debris is vertically distributed within the upper water column due to wind‐driven mixing. These results suggest that total oceanic plastics concentrations are significantly underestimated by traditional surface measurements, requiring a reinterpretation of existing plastic marine debris data sets. A geophysical approach must be taken in order to properly quantify and manage this form of marine pollution.
Key Points
Plastic debris is vertically distributed due to wind‐driven upper ocean mixing
Traditional measurements significantly underestimate marine plastic content
A geophysical approach must be taken to quantify marine plastic pollution
► Effects of graphite surface modification by oxygen treatment on anode performance. ► Estimation of graphite morphology changes by density functional theory (DFT). ► Absolute and relative extents of ...basal plane and “non-basal plane surface” areas. ► Correlation of
C
irr to change of quantitative amounts of graphitic surfaces is shown. ► Correlation of Raman spectra, DFT calculations and electrochemical performance.
For graphitic carbons as anode materials in lithium ion batteries, the morphology and chemistry of the graphite surface have a significant impact on the formation of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), the corresponding irreversible charge losses, and the overall electrochemical anode performance. In this work the effects of graphite surface modification, induced by an elevated temperature treatment, on the SEI formation are discussed in details. Morphology changes due to burn-off of carbon are investigated by Raman spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption measurements, which are not only used to calculate the BET specific surface area but also for the estimation of the absolute and relative extents of the basal plane surface area and the “non-basal plane surface” area. In particular, the relation of the first cycle irreversible charge loss to the change of surface morphology, especially to the quantitative amounts of the different types of surfaces is highlighted.
A comprehensive characterization of the lipidome from limited starting material remains very challenging. Here we report a high-sensitivity lipidomics workflow based on nanoflow liquid chromatography ...and trapped ion mobility spectrometry (TIMS). Taking advantage of parallel accumulation-serial fragmentation (PASEF), we fragment on average 15 precursors in each of 100 ms TIMS scans, while maintaining the full mobility resolution of co-eluting isomers. The acquisition speed of over 100 Hz allows us to obtain MS/MS spectra of the vast majority of isotope patterns. Analyzing 1 µL of human plasma, PASEF increases the number of identified lipids more than three times over standard TIMS-MS/MS, achieving attomole sensitivity. Building on high intra- and inter-laboratory precision and accuracy of TIMS collisional cross sections (CCS), we compile 1856 lipid CCS values from plasma, liver and cancer cells. Our study establishes PASEF in lipid analysis and paves the way for sensitive, ion mobility-enhanced lipidomics in four dimensions.
In order to study the early stages of nanofuzz growth in fusion-plasma-facing tungsten, mirror-polished high-purity tungsten was exposed to 80eV helium at 1130°C to a fluence of 4×1024Hem−2. The ...previously smooth surface shows morphology changes, and grains form one of four qualitatively different morphologies: smooth, wavy, pyramidal or terraced/wide waves. Combining high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations to determine the morphology of each grain with quantitative measurement of the grain’s orientation via electron backscatter diffraction in SEM shows that the normal-direction crystallographic orientation of the underlying grain controls the growth morphology. Specifically, near-〈001〉 || normal direction (ND) grains formed pyramids, near-〈114〉 to 〈112〉 || ND grains formed wavy and stepped structures and near-〈103〉 || ND grains remained smooth. Comparisons to control specimens indicate no changes to underlying bulk crystallographic texture, and possible explanations of the structure growth, particularly loop-punching, are discussed. Future developments to control tungsten texture via thermomechanical processing, ideally obtaining a sharp near-〈103〉 || ND processing texture, may delay the formation of nanofuzz.
Abstract
Humidity control is relevant to many processes in buildings and manufacturing and is responsible for over 600 million tons of CO
2
annually. As such, desiccants that can efficiently remove ...moisture from air can greatly reduce emissions. A new class of desiccant materials, thermo‐responsive desiccants, has been of increased interest in the literature. These materials are generally based on thermo‐responsive polymers and exhibit a temperature‐dependent isotherm, an attribute that is small in traditional desiccants. In this work, seven key parameters needed to create an effective thermo‐responsive polymer desiccant are identified using a combination of modeling and experimental data. It is found that more thermo‐responsiveness is not necessarily better for energy efficiency, and that an optimal, “medium” value is desired. Additionally, polymer composition and architecture play key roles in adjusting the seven key parameters. Finally, based on findings from both modeling and experimental work, guidelines on synthesizing future thermo‐responsive polymer desiccants are presented.
Wild piscivorous fish, mammals, and birds may be at risk for elevated dietary methylmercury intake and toxicity. In controlled feeding studies, the consumption of diets that contained Hg (as ...methylmercury) at environmentally realistic concentrations resulted in a range of toxic effects in fish, birds, and mammals, including behavioral, neurochemical, hormonal, and reproductive changes. Limited field-based studies, especially with certain wild piscivorous bird species, e.g., the common loon, corroborated laboratory-based results, demonstrating significant relations between methylmercury exposure and various indicators of methylmercury toxicity, including reproductive impairment. Potential population effects in fish and wildlife resulting from dietary methylmercury exposure are expected to vary as a function of species life history, as well as regional differences in fish-Hg concentrations, which, in turn, are influenced by differences in Hg deposition and environmental methylation rates. However, population modeling suggests that reductions in Hg emissions could have substantial benefits for some common loon populations that are currently experiencing elevated methylmercury exposure. Predicted benefits would be mediated primarily through improved hatching success and development of hatchlings to maturity as Hg concentrations in prey fish decline. Other piscivorous species may also benefit from decreased Hg exposure but have not been as extensively studied as the common loon.