An inverse Ruddlesden-Popper nitride Ca7(Li1−xFex)Te2N2 grown from Ca flux

Nitridoferrates containing monovalent iron ions are a class of materials of recent interest as potentially novel magnetic materials. Aiming at the exploration of nitridoferrates of calcium, we report the single crystal growth from Ca ?ux and crystal structure of the first member (n?=?2) of a series of inverse Ruddlesden-Popper nitrides with a general formula of A_n?1A'₂B_nX_3n+1, where A?=?Li/Fe, A'?=?Te, B?=?N, and X?=?Ca. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses indicate the crystal with a composition of Ca₇(Li_0.32(1)Fe_0.68(1))Te₂N₂ and the tetragonal space group I4/mmm (a?=?4.7884(1) Å, c?=?25.3723(4) Å, Z?=?2). The structure features alternately stacking NaCl-type A'X slabs and the perovskite-type ABX₃ slabs along the c axis. The Li/Fe atoms are located in cuboctahedral cavities surrounded by eight Ca₆N octahedra in the ABX₃ slab. This work demonstrates the viability of the Ca-rich ?ux as a suitable solvent for the exploration of new complex nitrides with interesting crystal structure and properties.     

The illocutionary force of laws

This article provides a speech act analysis of ‘crime-enacting’ provisions in criminal statutes, focusing on the illocutionary force of these provisions. These provisions commonly set out not only particular crimes and their characteristics but also their associated penalties. Enactment of a statute brings into force new social facts, typically norms, through the official utterance of linguistic material. These norms are supposed to guide behaviour: they tell us what we must, may, or must not do. Our main claim is that the illocutionary force of such provisions is primarily ‘world-creating’, i.e. effective, or declarational, rather than directive (behaviour-guiding). We assume that directive illocutionary force is either direct or indirect, showing that provisions need not contain the linguistic items that make for direct directives and that according to standard tests no indirect directive is present. A potential counter-argument is that any utterance serving to direct behaviour is necessarily a directive. We show that this behaviour-directing property is shared by some clear non-directives.     

Analyzing driver's response to the yellow onset at signalized intersections

Intersections are critical points within the highway system at which the risk of crashes increases. This study seeks to better understand drivers’ behavior at an intersection by examining the relationship between their observed driving behavior, psychological attributes and decision to proceed through an intersection. A driving simulator and self-report questionnaire were used to understand driver decision-making at the onset of the yellow phase across several signalized intersections. The simulator measured driving outcomes such as speed, braking, and throttle as drivers cross through four increasingly difficult intersections. The questionnaires measured demographics, psychological traits including mindfulness and impulsiveness along with self-reported driving behaviors. A total of 102 participants completed the questionnaire as well as the driving simulator experiment. Hierarchical clustering served to classify drivers into four groups on the basis of their observed driving in the simulator: the safest drivers, safe drivers, speed demons, and aggressive drivers. These driving styles moderated the relationship between the drivers’ psychological traits and their decision to stop or proceed at each intersection. Results showed that mindfulness was highly related to the safest drivers’ decision to stop at the first intersection, while impulsiveness and anxiety were related to the speed demons’ decision to stop at the third intersection. These findings lay a strong foundation for developing progressive educational campaigns incorporating driver psychology in their methodology. Findings also provide support for research linking driving performance and psychological traits with implications for intersection design.     

What matters is the underlying experience: Similar motor responses during processing observed hand actions and hand-related verbs

It is well-accepted that processing observed actions involves at some extent the same neural mechanisms responsible for action execution. More recently, it has been forwarded that also the processing of verbs expressing a specific motor content is subserved by the neural mechanisms allowing individuals to perform the content expressed by that linguistic material. This view is also known as embodiment and contrasts with a more classical approach to language processing that considers it as amodal. In the present study, we used a go/no-go paradigm, in which participants were requested to respond to real words and pictures and refrain from responding when presented stimuli were pseudowords and scrambled images. Real stimuli included pictures depicting hand- and foot-related actions and verbs expressing hand- and foot-related actions. We, therefore, directly compared the modulation of hand motor responses during the observation of actions and the presentation of verbs, expressing actions in the same category. The results have shown that participants gave slower hand motor responses during the observation of hand actions and the processing of hand-related verbs as than observed foot actions and related verbs. These findings support embodiment showing that whatever the modality of presentation (observed action or verb), the modulation of hand motor responses was similar, thus suggesting that processing seen actions and related verbs shares common mechanisms most likely involving the motor system and the underlying motor experience.     

文化视域下文化神经科学学科主张与检讨

文化神经科学是在宏大的文化背景下来全面深入考察个体的"心理、行为与脑认知机制"之间规律的一门学科。文化神经科学所倡导的神经-文化交互作用模型表明该学科以融合视野引领心理学研究范式的变革成为可能。同时,从文化学视野来审视,亦折射出其在文化学层面的短板,即人文精神与文化意蕴在"文化"名义下日渐式微。     

Attention and semantic processing during speech: an fMRI study

This fMRI study was conducted to investigate whether language semantics is processed even when attention is not explicitly directed to word meanings. In the “unattended” condition, the subjects performed a visual detection task while hearing semantically related and unrelated word pairs. In the “phoneme” condition, the subjects made phoneme judgements between prime and target words, and in the “word” condition, they indicated whether the words in each word pair were semantically related or unrelated. In the word condition, stronger activity was obtained for unrelated than related words in the superior temporal gyrus/sulcus (STG/STS), lingual/fusiform gyri and cuneus, whereas in the phoneme condition no such effect was observed. However, during the unattended condition, stronger activity was found in the right STG. Our results suggest that both semantic judgement of word pairs and their passive hearing activate the same neural networks but this activation is more restricted in the passive hearing.     

Analysis of the relation between structure and the superconducting transition in YBa2 Cu3 O∼7

Abstract

It is shown that in the high-T_c YBa₂ Cu₃ O_～7 superconductor the critical temperature is a function of the orthorhombic distortion (b–a)/a of the unit cell. From the extrapolation of the (b - a)/a ratio against T_c , a maximum critical temperature of 66 K for the tetragonal phase of YBa₂ Cu₃ O_～7 was predicted. From the correlation between the transition width δT_c and the orthorhombic distortion there was deduced an upper limit for T_c , in the orthorhombic phase of YBa₂ Cu₃ O_～7 of 94·5K.     

Effects of temperature and electron energy on the electron-irradiation-induced decomposition of sapphire

The effects of temperature and electron energy on the electron-irradiation-induced decomposition of sapphire have been investigated by in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that the decomposition rate of α-Al₂O₃ increased with increasing irradiation temperature and decreased with increasing acceleration voltage. The core-hole Auger decay process (K–F model), rather than knock-on displacement, is responsible for the decomposition of α-Al₂O₃ under electron irradiation.     

Elastic solutions with arbitrary elastic inhomogeneity and anisotropy

An efficient numerical algorithm is proposed to accurately compute the elastic fields in two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) microstructures with arbitrary elastic inhomogeneity and anisotropy. It combines the equivalent inclusion method of Eshelby, the microelasticity theory of Khachaturyan, and the spectral iterative perturbation method of Hu and Chen. Its efficiency is compared with those of existing approaches in the literature. The method can be conveniently implemented in phase-field modeling of stress-dependent microstructure evolution and/or of mass/electrical transport.     

Possibility of a shape phase transition for solidification of tin at scallop-like surfaces of Cu6Sn5

The possibility of solder-spreading transitions in solidification of solder at a rough rigid intermetallic surface is proven theoretically. Depending on the misorientation of scallops on the interface, one can observe a two-dimensional spreading transition over the scallops or a one-dimensional spreading transition along the triple-junction of two intermetallic compound scallops and liquid solder. The extent of undercooling can be determined not only by different interface energies, but by different angles between neighbouring scallops as well.