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Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) CO2 capture technology can be used to recover energy from municipal solid waste (MSW). In this study, techno-economic analysis of CLC of waste paper, PVC and their blends for electricity and heat generation was carried out. The process includes the chemical looping combustion section, carbon capture section and lastly, electricity generation section, and this was simulated using Chemcad software. Four scenarios were evaluated; IG-CLC (In-situ Gasification Chemical Looping Combustion) with electricity production only, and with combined heat and power (CHP), Chemical Looping Oxygen Uncoupling (CLOU) with electricity production and with combined heat and power (CHP). Based on a net capacity of 150 MW, the effect of waste paper, PVC and its blends on its net efficiency and LCOE was investigated for all four scenarios.

Learning a second language is challenging, but mastering pronunciation is even more difficult. Researchers continuously seek new ways to improve students’ English abilities, such as listening and speaking, while ignoring the importance of pronunciation. After conducting a literature review, this article investigates the impact of corpora and two instructional methods on improving students’ pronunciation. The paper addresses how to teach pronunciation effectively in the context of English as a second language. According to the review, corpus resources, critical listening, and shadowing can all be used independently to enhance students’ proficiency in second language learning. Hence, an innovative Corpus-based Critical Listening and Shadowing model has been devised as an aid in the teaching of pronunciation by providing more specific suggestions for teachers and students, with the expectation that students will perform better once they have been taught pronunciation using the methodology. The current study’s findings have pedagogical and methodological implications for pronunciation teaching, learning and research. The implications and future directions of the innovative Corpus-based Critical Listening and Shadowing model are also discussed.

The White Paper offers an academic perspective to the discussion on the Data Governance Act proposal (“DGA proposal”), as adopted by the European Commission in November 2020. It contains a legal analysis of the DGA proposal and includes recommendations to amend its shortcomings. The White Paper aims to cover the full spectrum of the DGA proposal and therefore offers an in-depth analysis of its main provisions. In conclusion, the authors identify general patterns at work with the DGA proposal, namely, first, the (new) regulation of data as an object and, even more so, as an object of rights. This approach, the authors find, may contribute to exacerbate the risk of contradictions of the DGA proposal with the GDPR on the level of principles. Second, it discusses the relationship of the DGA proposal vis-a-vis the (regulation of) European data spaces and more generally its place in the two-pillars approach of the EC, between horizontal (sector-agnostic) and sectoral regulation of data. Finally, the DGA proposal is identified as a cornerstone of the new EU ‘digital sovereignty’ policy.

The Swedish climate policy framework requires national GHG emissions to reach net zero by 2045 and become negative thereafter. Bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) has been identified as a possible main contributor to reach these targets by providing negative emissions – both to offset residual emissions in “hard-to-abate” sectors and to achieve net negative emissions. The pulp and paper industry is the single largest consumer of biomass in Sweden with many large point sources of biogenic CO2 emissions which could potentially be captured. This work investigates the biomass supply required for large scale implementation of BECCS in the pulp and paper industry. Regional biomass supply possibilities are evaluated by choosing four pulp and paper mills located in different parts of Sweden. The results show that regional biomass supply can limit the possibilities for BECCS implementation in regions with high competition for biomass. In regions with low competition and high availability of biomass regional biomass supply can potentially assist CCS implementation on biogenic sources. It is concluded that for a densely populated and industrialized region with high use of logging residues in the heating sector, in this work represented by southern Sweden where two of the studied mills are located, the possibility to increase regional supply of logging residues to fuel the capture process while maintaining mill production output, is limited due to competition for the same assortment of biomass from the energy sector (combined heat and power in district heating systems).

Using new transaction-level data for non-financial commercial paper (CP) in the U.S., we show that companies systematically reduce their outstanding short-term debt on quarterly and annual disclosure dates. Constraints on CP lending supply cannot explain this pattern. Instead, firms prefer repaying short-term debt over disclosing high cash holdings to signal that their cash is readily available and not trapped in foreign subsidiaries. Consistent with this interpretation, we show that firms with higher cash holdings, more sales in regions with tight capital controls, or with higher debt-equity ratios compared to industry peers reduce their short-term debt more aggressively at disclosure dates.

The pulping industry generates vast amounts of bark residues and wastewater treatment sludges, which are combined and stored for varying periods in stacks, often in the open air, prior to utilization for energy via combustion. In order to optimize the storage strategy, the effects of incorporating sludge into bark on heating value and storage-related environmental impacts were investigated in laboratory and outdoor studies. Biological degradation activity was found to be higher in treatments containing 25% sludge (B75S25) and 50% sludge (B50S50) on a fresh mass basis, in comparison with pure bark (B100). Mean monthly dry mass loss was 2.1% (B100), 3.3% (B75S25), and 3.7% (B50S50) in the laboratory and 2.7%, 4.2%, and 4.8%, respectively, outdoors. Sludge addition was found to maintain degradation activity at low temperatures (+ 3°C). Co-storage of sludge and bark led to loss of energy, mainly due to increased loss of biomass and increased moisture content. Overall, biomass moisture content governed the heating value. Cumulative methane emissions over the storage period were higher from the sludge-containing treatments than from pure bark, but emissions of nitrogen-containing gases (N2O and NH3) were negligible throughout. Sludge addition roughly halved the cumulative chemical oxygen demand (COD) of leachate and minimized its concentration of phosphate-P. However, larger amounts of inorganic elements were released to the percolating water from the sludge-containing treatments. Overall, these results indicate that finding alternative uses for the sludge fraction would be beneficial.

This paper is intended to be a very brief snapshot describing the discussion surrounding demand and supply and the NDIS. We contend that the use of descriptions of activities that are normally used to describe market activities represents a threat to outcomes of the Scheme because it misrepresents the relationship between consumers, suppliers and the NDIS. This situation in turn drives funding rationing policy suggesting that suppliers will respond to economic signals in the interest of consumers while suggesting that those consumers have economic power that they do not have—when the NDIA actually sets the decision framework. It is clear that the NDIA funds suppliers to provide supports and services to consumers who need those supports in order to live their lives and that the usual factors considered in markets economics, such as demand, supply and preference, do not apply. Additionally, in circumstances where the expectation is that they will apply, there is great risk that consumers will bear the brunt of negative outcomes, including that of not receiving services and supports.

The present paper was prepared and submitted as part of the European Commission's public consultation to give stakeholders the opportunity to express their views on the questions raised and policy options proposed in the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence.

Due to the size and complexity of the NDIS reform, there has been a wealth of commentary and analysis developed by the government, academia and industry groups; sometimes in collaboration. In this document we identify and summarise 84 reports representing grey literature developed up to 2020 and relating to the NDIS, its management and the economic, social and policy milieu in which it operates.

On 19th February 2020, the European Commission published the long-awaited and pre-announced White Paper on artificial intelligence. In addition, the Commission published a document shaping Europe's digital future, a document on the European data strategy and a report on the impact of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and robotics on security and liability . Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her presentation of the new EU digital strategy that the objectives for shaping Europe's digital future cover “everything from cyber-security to critical infrastructures, digital education to skills, democracy to media" . Whether this promise has been fulfilled and to what extent it has been possible to focus on content will be examined below. For this purpose, the following article will discuss individual proposals from selected documents and address newly emerging liability issues arising in connection with the use of AI.

Purpose Electrocardiogram (ECG) is one of the most essential tools for detecting heart problems. Till today most of the ECG records are available in paper form. It can be challenging and time-consuming to manually assess the ECG paper records. Hence, automated diagnosis and analysis are possible if we digitize such paper ECG records. Methods The proposed work aims to convert ECG paper records into a 1-D signal and generate an accurate diagnosis of heart-related problems using deep learning. Camera-captured ECG images or scanned ECG paper records are used for the proposed work. Effective pre-processing techniques are used for the removal of shadow from the images. A deep learning model is used to get a threshold value that separates ECG signal from its background and after applying various image processing techniques threshold ECG image gets converted into digital ECG. These digitized 1-D ECG signals are then passed to another deep learning model for the automated diagnosis of heart diseases into different classes such as ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), Left Bundle Branch Block (LBBB), Right Bundle Branch Block (RBBB), and T-wave abnormality. Results The accuracy of deep learning-based binarization is 97%. Further deep learning-based diagnosis approach of such digitized paper ECG records was having an accuracy of 94.4%. Conclusions The digitized ECG signals can be useful to various research organizations because the trends in heart problems can be determined and diagnosed from preserved paper ECG records. This approach can be easily implemented in areas where such expertise is not available. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40846-021-00632-0.

On 15th December 2020 the Westminster Government published its long-awaited Green Paper on public procurement law, “Transforming Public Procurement”, setting out its vision for the UK’s post-Brexit regime. In a number of Working Papers and articles the author has set out her own vision for a post-Brexit regime, which proposed that new legislation should regulate not mainly to ensure open markets, as with the current EU-based rules, but also to secure other objectives, such as value for money and integrity; and set out seven (related) principles which it was suggested should underpin the reforms, namely: an open contracting approach; a single and uniform regime; significant legislative simplification involving a shift from hard to soft law; use of familiar concepts, rules and terminology where appropriate; a rebalancing of interests away from open market objectives towards value for money, sustainability and reduced procedural costs, and a related shift in regulatory strategy to increase flexibility; more effective and balanced enforcement; and a common framework across UK jurisdictions. The present Working Paper provides an assessment of the Green Paper from the perspective of the key themes and recommendations of these proposals. It is explained that the Green Paper proposals follows the above approach to a very large extent. It proposes bold reforms to make the system more flexible, more streamlined and more transparent, including proposals for refocusing objectives, open contracting, a single and uniform regime, significant simplification, enhanced flexibility, including free access to negotiation and substantial improvements to enforcement. However, this positive view does come with some reservations. In particular, there is inadequate treatment of the important issue of mechanisms for recurring purchase in the form of framework agreements, dynamic purchasing systems and qualification systems. Here the proposals have potential for significantly reducing, rather than increasing, flexibility, contrary to a key aim of the reform, but are not sufficiently clear or justified to provide a basis for meaningful consultation. A second reservation is in the area of remedies. While valuable reforms are proposed to speed up court cases and improve pre-contractual remedies, it seems unlikely that these proposals alone will ensure access to justice for smaller companies; and while the prospect of removing some cases from the courts is raised for the longer term, such a future reform is by no means guaranteed. Finally, it is disappointing that the vision of a single and uniform regime has not been extended beyond the four sets of procurement Regulations that derive from EU law, as there are no convincing reasons not to do this.

This position paper of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition provides comments on the amendments proposed by the German Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection in its discussion draft of January 2020 on the modernization and simplification of the German Patent Act. While the Institute generally welcomes the initiative, the paper offers some suggestions aimed at increasing precision in the areas of first, the concept and the implementation of the proportionality test for granting injunctive relief, and, second, the need for enhanced protection of trade secrets in patent disputes. With regard to the proportionality assessment, the Institute suggests that, rather than reducing it to an application of the principle of good faith, the concept of proportionality should be interpreted and applied in light of the ratio legis of patent protection with a view to preventing dysfunctional effects potentially resulting from the exercise of the exclusive right and the associated claim to an injunction. Scenarios involving complex products, non-practicing entities and standard-essential patents are used to illustrate the approach. As regards the weighing and balancing of interests when assessing proportionality, the position paper argues that it is neither desirable nor appropriate to prioritize the interests of the patentee over those of the infringer as a matter of principle. In addition, it is not only the interests of parties to the dispute, but also those of third parties, in particular the public interest, that should be taken into account. With regard to the protection of trade secrets in patent disputes, the position paper refers to certain procedural insufficiencies of the Trade Secrets Act to adequately protect the defendant’s secrecy interests. It also points out a potential loophole in relation to the ‘Dusseldorf proceedings’ that may facilitate ‘fishing expeditions’.

This white paper utilises the observations and comments of a wide range of stakeholders and research about the implementation of the NDIS and its impact on the Australian Disability Services System. It is also informed by international experience and academic literature focused on economic models and policy frameworks that are similar to the NDIS. It has been six years since the commencement of the NDIS and it is now timely to step back and objectively assess what has and has not been achieved, including in terms of the 63 reports published that are relevant to the NDIS. In this context, this white paper is focused on describing a policy and practice framework necessary to realising the objectives of the Australian community in funding the Australian Disability Services System. Among other things, many policy leaders, stakeholders, even service users have taken for granted that market solutions will result in better services and outcomes for people with disability, while also improving the efficiency of supply and value for money for taxpayers.

In February 2020 the EU published its white paper on ‘Artificial Intelligence: A European approach to excellence and trust’. This is likely to form the core of future policy and legislation within the EU and as such will have global impact on standards and norms. In this comment piece we survey the five sections of the white paper and then critically examine three themes, namely, i. regulatory signalling, ii. the risk-based approach, and, iii. the auditing styles. The key takeaway is that the white paper, and the EU’s strategy at large, is ambiguous and lacks vision, which, if unchecked, is likely to have a negative impact on EU competitiveness in the development of AI solutions and services.

Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) are the futuristic microfluidic paper-based analytical diagnostic devices that are utilized to perform the laboratory-based test (ex: water, blood, urine, etc..,) at the user location. Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) are known as a robust analytical platform that can fulfil the stipulations. This analysis aims to offer a detailed assessment of the μPADs that are advanced for the estimation of vital water pH values. The significant challenge for users with the μPAD based diagnostic is that, the user is unable to evaluate the precise outcome of the diagnostic result. Here, the water pH diagnostic test is considered on the μPADs, since water pollutant is a severe environmental hassle that affect thousands of humans and as a result it increases the demand for common water first-class monitoring. The necessity for analytical systems that merge extreme sensibleness, selectivity and accuracy with low cost, portability and consumer friendliness remains as a prominent part. This research work proposes a technique to detect the pH value of the water by acquiring the images of the tested μPADs, extract the shape of the test zone area and perform colourimetric analysis to determine the pH value of the test zone area on scale 0-13. The main advantages of the μPADs are comparatively low cost and accessible abundance, reduce the overall cost of testing, and reduce the number of visits to the research laboratory.

The EU White Paper on AI mentions healthcare as one of the sectors where AI applications might pose high risks. These comments provide the vision on the regulatory framework for high-risk healthcare AI applications. The key takeaways concern transparency, preventing bias, safety and quality of AI applications used for medical purposes. I suggest that the transparency of AI shall not be equated to its explainability. To increase transparency and ensure the safety of AI healthcare applications, cooperation between manufacturers and users of AI (healthcare providers) shall be improved. I highlight that biased AI decisions alert on the inaccuracy of algorithms. While discrimination and stigmatization are difficult to identify and prove, especially for AI and especially for healthcare, controlling of AI’s accuracy is an efficient tool to prevent and mitigate biases in AI systems. Finally, I briefly compare the two regulations that might apply to AI tools in healthcare - the Medical Devices Regulation (EU) 2017/745 (MDR) and the In-vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (EU) 2017/746 (IVDR). I conclude that the IVDR is more tailored to AI characteristics while it is more detailed and more focused on data quality and relevance. Thus, the IVDR rules can be a good starting point for clarifying and implementing a regulatory framework for high-risk AI healthcare applications.

This short position paper was presented at the Meeting of the OECD Network of Experts on Artificial Intelligence (ONE AI) held in Paris on 26-27 February 2020. It argues that public and collective governance, including through collective bargaining, is urgently needed to prevent the most invasive uses of Artificial Intelligence and algorithmic management and surveillance over workers. Tools such as GPS-based wearable devices that monitor workers' position at the workplace and collect data on particularly private information, including workers' heartbeats and emotional status call for immediate action from regulators and social partners. Surveillance practices should be limited to indispensable cases and transparency of data collection and processes should be safeguarded, also to rule out the many possible discriminatory consequences of management-by-algorithm.

AI is fast causing a global revolution in almost every area of human endeavor. In a bid to ensure that the existing laws are able to properly regulate AI, the European Commission drafted a white paper highlighting Europe’s policy direction to AI regulation. This commentary identifies salient points from the whitepaper with the author’s comments being made where necessary.

The National Performance Benchmarking Project undertaken by Not-for-profits UWA personnel produced three annual sustainability reports analyzing service providers working in the Australian Disability Services Sector, each published in 2016, 2017 and 2019. This work also contributed to the National Disability Services Annual State of the Sector Reports.3 The data collected, and which continues to be collected, does not assist analysists in identifying prospective causes of service breakdown. However, the findings in these reports highlighted a number of areas which can be indicators of vulnerability in the context of the roll out of the NDIS — this document discusses these indicators and we have referred to them as “Proxies for Risk”. We consider them to be the first line of defense in the context of avoiding a breakdown in sustainability of service delivery as the NDIS rolls out and experimentation leads to learnings. The purpose of this Green Paper is to examine the proxies for risk identified out of the project and to provide a short-form analysis of the extent to which these proxies suggest that potential risks are being faced by service users in the NDIS. We also suggest that these proxies should be reviewed bi-annually or annually.

Melamine-urea-formaldehyde impregnated bond paper (MUF) is widely used as panel coating and decorative raw paper. Inappropriate treatment of MUF may lead to environmental pollution. In this study, routine MUF and MUF treated with additional titanium (MUF-T) were subjected to fast pyrolysis, and the product properties at different temperatures were investigated. The pyrolysis temperature was selected considering the reaction stages determined by Gaussian curve-fitting on thermogravimetric analysis curves. It was found that the presence of additional titanium changed the decomposition order of the organic components at 220 °C. Urea-formaldehyde in MUF could be decomposed at 220 °C, which had little effect on other components (melamine and cellulose). However, in terms of MUF-T, the decomposition temperature of urea-formaldehyde was postponed to 244 °C, which means that the pyrolysis strategy needs to choose a temperature higher than 244 °C. The volatiles in MUF-T are more easily converted to bio-gas or bio-oil than those in MUF. However, only CH

The previous Part I of the paper (https://doi.org/10.33774/coe-2022-wlr02) discusses the option of the Gödel incompleteness statement (1931: whether “Satz VI” or “Satz X”) to be an axiom due to the pair of the axiom of induction in arithmetic and the axiom of infinity in set theory after interpreting them as logical negations to each other. The present Part II considers the previous Gödel’s paper (1930) (and more precisely, the negation of “Satz VII”, or “the completeness theorem”) as a necessary condition for granting the Gödel incompleteness statement to be a theorem just as the statement itself, to be an axiom. Then, the “completeness paper” can be interpreted as relevant to Hilbert mathematics, according to which mathematics and reality as well as arithmetic and set theory are rather entangled or complementary rather than mathematics to obey reality able only to create models of the latter. According to that, both papers (1930; 1931) can be seen as advocating Russell’s logicism or the intensional propositional logic versus both extensional arithmetic and set theory. Reconstructing history of philosophy, Aristotle’s logic and doctrine can be opposed to those of Plato or the pre-Socratic schools as establishing ontology or intensionality versus extensionality. Husserl’s phenomenology can be analogically realized including and particularly as philosophy of mathematics. One can identify propositional logic and set theory by virtue of Gödel’s completeness theorem (1930: “Satz VII”) and even both and arithmetic in the sense of the “compactness theorem” (1930: “Satz X”) therefore opposing the latter to the “incompleteness paper” (1931). An approach identifying homomorphically propositional logic and set theory as the same structure of Boolean algebra, and arithmetic as the “half” of it in a rigorous construction involving information and its unit of a bit. Propositional logic and set theory are correspondingly identified as the shared zero-order logic of the class of all first-order logics and the class at issue correspondingly. Then, quantum mechanics does not need any quantum logics, but only the relation of propositional logic, set theory, arithmetic, and information: rather a change of the attitude into more mathematical, philosophical, and speculative than physical, empirical and experimental. Hilbert’s epsilon calculus can be situated in the same framework of the relation of propositional logic and the class of all mathematical theories. The horizon of Part III investigating Hilbert mathematics (i.e. according to the Pythagorean viewpoint about the world as mathematical) versus Gödel mathematics (i.e. the usual understanding of mathematics as all mathematical models of the world external to it) is outlined.

In response to recent calls for major reforms to the American military justice system, which are apparently based on continuing Congressional concerns about sexual assaults in the military, the authors present statistical data on sexual assaults from a number of sources: national crime statistics; military crime statistics; crime statistics from several states, and statistics from a university. The authors also present information on the tremendous strides that have been made in recent years to protect the rights of military victims of sexual assault, noting that some of those rights are not found in federal or state criminal justice systems. Finally, the authors conclude that the rate of sexual assaults in the military is lower than for other civilian jurisdictions. Military victims report offenses at a higher rate than the jurisdictions examined.

Since the first RNs earned orthopaedic certification in 1988, over 12,000 nurses have proudly held the ONC credential. Today, nearly 7000 orthopaedic-certified nurses, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists demonstrate excellence in the care of persons with musculoskeletal health concerns. Why did they choose certification? A representative sample of over 300 orthopaedic-certified nurses responded to a survey from the Orthopaedic Nurses Certification Board (ONCB) to confirm why they value their credentials and maintain specialty certification. Their answers offer compelling reasons for nurses to get, and keep, orthopaedic nursing certification.

Our research objective is making quantum computing real with Qiskit for USAF-Pentagon JADC2 (Joint All Domain Command & Control) thus contributing to USAF-DoD core missions. JADC2 is the US Air Force led and Joint Staff coordinated key effort central to Joint Services C4I-ISR and C2 (Command & Control) integration enabling the new Joint Warfighting Concept for All-Domain Operations. The resulting ‘New American Way of War’ is anticipated to yield “significant advantage over everybody in the world for a long time” according to the Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General John Hyten.

In developing countries, disposal of waste generated from industries and agriculture sector is a major concern. Use of such industrial/agricultural waste in construction can be the viable solution not only for environmental pollution but also for land disposal problems. In view of developing sustainable mortar, waste paper pulp ash is used as a partial replacement of cement in various range from 5% to 20% with increment of 5%. The physico-chemical properties of the obtained waste paper pulp ash were studied, and it was observed that the silica content was about 29.25% which is near to silica content in cement. Two mortar mixes 1:4 and 1:6 proportion were designed. Mortar cubes were prepared for different mixes and were cured for various curing periods. The developed mortar mixes were tested for the various physico-mechanical tests viz. compressive strength, flexural brick bond strength, shear brick bond strength and shrinkage limit test. The test results revealed that as the content of the waste increased, the water to cement ratio for the mix was also significantly increased, since the wastepaper pulp has a high degree of water absorption. At the optimum dose of 10% replacement of waste paper pulp ash, the compressive, flexural brick bond and shear brick bond strength was increased by 10% as compared to control mix. Therefore, development of sustainable mortar using waste paper pulp ash will be helpful to survive environment from industrial pollution.

Herein, we demonstrate a microwave-assisted chemical reduction technique to exfoliate a few layers of graphene from the natural waste material, ‘coconut shell’. The microwave irradiation coconut shell is subjected to structural, morphological and functional groups characterization methods including SEM, Raman, FTIR and XPS spectroscopic analyses. The formation of biomass reduced graphene (BRG) has been confirmed through Raman and FTIR spectroscopic analyzes with the presence of D, G and 2D and other functional spectral bands, respectively. The surface topography of the BRG exhibits two-dimensional mat structures with wrinkle topography, imaged by electron microscopic techniques. The metallic behaviour of the BRG is evaluated by band structure calculation using density functional theory. The synthesized nanostructure has been evaluated for exhaled diabetic breath sensing application by fabricating sensor device on the paper-based substrate by roll-to-roll coating technique. The BRG sensor exhibited enhanced sensing response at a very lower concentration of diabetic biomarker with long term stability and rapid response/recovery time of 1.11 s/41.25 s, respectively. Based on our findings, the microwave-assisted BRG is a potential candidate for fabricating highly scalable, inherently safe, economically viable and excellent sensing performance to detect exhaled diabetic breath at room temperature.

Based on the mechanism of luminescence resonance energy transfer (LRET) and using a special single strand DNA as the recognition element, a portable paper-based sensor for the accurate detection of total heavy rare-earth ions (mainly Gd3+, Tb3+ and Dy3+) concentration was proposed. The RNA cleaving-DNAzyme should recognize rare-earth ions to cleave RNA on DNA duplexes linking UCNPs and AuNPs, causing UCNPs and AuNPs to approach each other, inducing LRET, which attenuated the green upconversion luminescence (UCL) triggered by the 980 nm laser. UCL was captured by a charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor and processed with the red-green-blue (RGB) image to quantitatively analyze heavy rare-earth ions in the samples. In the range of 5–50 μmol·L-1, the sensor has good sensitivity, with the limit of detection of 1.26 μmol L−1.

In April 2019, the U.K. released a white paper about Online Harms. The White Paper proposes to take Internet censorship to a new height, essentially unmatched by any other Western democracy. It’s a sign of how comprehensive censorship has moved beyond repressive regimes to become trendy even in leading republican democracies. To redress a wide range of anti-social online activity, the White Paper seeks to tightly circumscribe user-generated content — so tightly that only a small number Internet giants will be able to profitably publish user-generated content. Other Internet publishers will be pushed towards licensing professional content and cover those costs by charging subscriber fees to consumers. Thus, the White Paper will produce a reconfigured Internet 3.0 that will resemble the cable TV industry, not the current Internet we know and love. This essay addresses three main points. It first deconstructs the some of the “facts” the White Paper uses to justify its censorious ideas. Then it highlights some of the proposals’ worst policy aspects. The essay concludes by explaining how the White Paper will reshape the Internet and kill off most user-generated content.

Friction stir welding (FSW) is the fastest evolving joining technology and the principal prospective technique for implementing an integral fuselage structure in aircraft manufacturing. The viability of FS welds is dependent upon mechanical properties and production turnovers, which are dependent on welding rates and tool design. Hence this review paper border on the effect of welding parameters, tool designs on micro-structure, and mechanical behavior of friction stir welds. The micro-structure and micro-hardnesses which were influenced by the welding rates determined static properties, failure locations, and residual stress minima and maxima. The study reviews the nature and distribution of material flow, grain structure, and precipitates in the aluminum FS welds and their effect on mechanical properties. Advances in the industrial application of Friction Stir Welds and further prospects are critical to this review work.

We examine voluntary disclosures made by issuers of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in their “white papers” and use them to rate the blockchain technology being developed by the ICO issuers. First, we find that most ICOs receive a low rating. In fact, over 80% of the ICOs do not need to use a blockchain. Second, ICO projects with a higher rating raised more funds than their counterparts, after controlling for other project-, issuer-, and token-related features. Third, ICOs with a high rating are more likely to have their digital coins/tokens listed on a cryptocurrency exchange within 180 days after their ICO end dates. Finally, results indicate that providing technical details in the white paper can be an effective way to signal the quality of an ICO project. Overall, these results are consistent with ICO token buyers/investors taking into consideration the underlying blockchain technology of the ICO projects when making their purchasing/investing decisions. Since the white paper is the main source of ICO information, our findings imply that the credibility of this information is important to protect the interests of ICO buyers/investors and to ensure the long-term viability of the ICO as a capital-raising tool for blockchain-based ventures.

This White Paper provides a summary of the insights gathered at the Oxford Impact Roundtables (OIR) in 2018 and 2019 and proposes a structured frame for the evaluation of the most popular sustainability accounting, reporting and valuation approaches and their relation to one another. Through this we hope to identify synergies and complementarities of different frameworks and enable a better understanding of these by internal and external audiences. Specifically, this paper considers the following frameworks: Sustainability Reporting, Triple Bottom Line, Integrated Reporting, Impact Valuation, Integrated Profit and Loss accounting (Integrated P+L) and the Mutual Profit and Loss statement (Mutual P+L). Recognizing that a multitude of frameworks exist and are in use, we have focused our analysis on those that are most frequently used and relevant for the context of the OIR participants.

This document seeks to respond to the questions raised by the Australian Human Rights Commission and World Economic Forum in their ‘Artificial Intelligence: governance and leadership’ White Paper consultation. It draws upon some of the research conducted at the Allens Hub to make suggestions about if and how systems involving some component of artificial intelligence or automation should be regulated. It also seeks to create further clarity regarding the potential structure and functions of the proposed Responsible Innovation Organisation. We note that our research does not relate to all the questions asked in the White Paper consultation, and so we only set out answers in relation to those matters where our research may be relevant. We are otherwise grateful for the opportunity to present our views and hope this submission will help the Australian Human Rights Commission and World Economic Forum in their consideration.

This White Paper analyzes the proposed “No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2019” (NOPEC). This legislation, which has been introduced in the United States Senate and House of Representatives, addresses the antitrust issues involved in allowing the Department of Justice to sue the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), their member states, their state owned oil companies (SOEs), nonmember states and their SOEs, and private companies for their participation in an international cartel that has long been involved in regulating the production and distribution of oil and other petroleum products. The White Paper begins with a background discussion of the participants in the oil cartel. The paper then describes in detail the proposed legislation. The paper discusses how prior suits against OPEC have failed as courts have applied several substantive law doctrines — comity, Act of State, and the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act — as well as rules on service of process under the Federal Rules of Civil procedure, to turn away the four private cases that have been filed. The paper then addresses how NOPEC is directed at removing the substantive defenses that have blocked the private party litigation and that might block litigation filed by the Justice Department. The bill removes the substantive law blocks, although an issue might remain if the Department brings a criminal prosecution, but NOPEC does not address the procedural issue of service of process. The White Paper concludes that NOPEC is an important part of a worldwide effort to stop international cartels that harm consumers and reduce economic welfare.