The purpose of this research is the exploration of the opinions and level of self-efficacy in the usage of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) of teachers in Greek pre-schools in the learning process and administration of nurseries. By using the term “usage and utilisation of ICTs in the learning process” we mean the utilisation of the capabilities that new technologies offer in an educationally appropriate way so that the learning process yields positive results. By using the term “self-efficacy” we describe the strength of one’s belief in one’s own ability to use the capabilities he or she possess. In this way, the beliefs of the person in his or her ability to use a personal computer constitute the self-efficacy in computer usage. The research sample consists of 128 pre-school teachers that work in the prefecture of Kavala. Kavala’s prefecture is a representative example of an Education Authority since it consists of urban, suburban, and rural areas. The approach that is deemed to be the most appropriate for the exploration of such research questions is content analysis methodology and correlation analysis. The main findings of the study have shown statistically significant differences regarding the opinions and stances of the pre-school teachers for the introduction of the ICTs in the administration and the usage and utilisation of ICTs in the administration and preparation of teaching. Lastly, there were statistically significant differences between the opinions and stances of the pre-school teachers for the usage and utilisation of ICTs in the learning process. Instead, there were no statistically significant differences regarding the level of self-efficacy of the pre-school teachers in the usage and utilisation of the ICTs in the learning process. The research results could be used in the educational field as well as by Greek Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs in order to take any corrective action, after the effort of Greek Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, to integrate ICT in the learning process with training courses since 2006.

IAF capitalises on anger over Israel and new laws, securing historic gains in a changing political landscape

Spencer Shrader is next up in the New York Jets' kicking shuffle.

The Mediterranean Institute for Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE, Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France), in its Research Group "Macroecology and Biogeography of Global Change (MacroBio)" has a 36-months PhD position open for applications. The position is funded by the European Commission through the FP7 Research Project OPERAs and affiliated to the French National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS).

The topic is the broad-scale spatial mapping and quantification of ecosystem service trade-offs following from management of agro-ecosystems in the Mediterranean basin. The context of the research includes the environment (climate, land use) as well as trends in societal demands for services. Based on scientific literature, spatial databases and the outputs from a process-based ecosystem model, the candidate will analyze, quantify and map ecosystem service trade-offs. Service valuation and indicator representation methods will be developed with the IMBE team. The approach is pan-Mediterranean: a significant part of the work will therefore consist of helping to reduce gaps in data and knowledge for the sum of countries around the Mediterranean basin. 

The research group works in close interaction with international programs such as Future Earth (through its project ecoSERVICES) and science-policy interfaces such as IPBES.

The successful candidate will have completed a Masters degree (or equivalent) in one of the environmental sciences, have experience in the handling of spatial data from databases, literature and models, have knowledge of existing concepts of ecosystem services, and be able to place results in the context of the Mediterranean basin (this includes the European, as well as North African and Eastern countries). The working language is English, appropriate skills in French or another of the Mediterranean languages will be an advantage.

The position will be filled when a suitable candidate has been identified. To apply for this position, please send a letter of application, demonstrating your ability to understand the task, and your CV as soon as possible, but before the 31st of January 2013, by e-mail to Ms. Gabriela Boéri (Gabriela.Boeri@imbe.fr). For any questions about the task, working conditions, or the OPERAs project, please contact Professor Wolfgang Cramer (Wolfgang.Cramer@imbe.fr).

The Heinz-Nixdorf-Chair for Distributed Information Systems at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena (Germany) invites applications for a fully funded PhD student position in Biodiversity Data Visualization for the data management project of the Biodiversity Exploratories (BE) Priority Program.

Deadline for application: 2nd, May 2014

Start date: June 2014 or later

What this is about

The data management project provides the platform for data storage and information exchange for the projects of the DFG Priority Program "Biodiversity Exploratories". Examples of the thematic focus of the projects include botany, forestry, soil, animal, fluxes, modeling, and remote sensing. This diversity is reflected in the format, structure, and semantics of their data which we manage.

Tasks in this project will be centered on the investigation and development of novel visualization methods and user-friendly tools for exploration, search and discovery, quality assurance and integration of the heterogeneous, large volume biodiversity data.  Overall, the study should contribute to the science of visualization for big-data-driven biodiversity research.

More information on the requirements, conditions and how to apply find in the official job offer attached below.

Funded by the "Severo Ochoa" Excellence Program awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the Doñana Biological Station (www.ebd.csic.es) seeks a Postdoctoral fellow for two-years with the aim to conduct research in the field of Biological Invasions. 

EBD-CSIC is interested to examine the multifaceted causes and consequences of biological invasions, a key component of global change. The ultimate goal is to improve our knowledge of the factors that influence the success and impacts of invasions by plants and vertebrates. For this purpose, we investigate species traits conferring invasive potential, the vulnerability of ecosystems to be invaded, and the sensitivity of native biodiversity to invasions under different environmental conditions and scenarios of global change.

Deadline for interested applicants: 17th June-17th July, 2014

Please see attached file for more details (download, pdf)

The Mediterranean Institute for Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE, Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France), in its research group "Macroecology and Biogeography of Global Change (MacroBio)" has a PostDoc position open for applications. The post has a duration of 36 months, the initial contract is made for 18 months, being extended based on an assessment of performance. The position is funded by the European Commission through the FP7 Research Project LUC4C and affiliated to the French National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS).

The main topic is to improve the way LULCC processes are represented in the DGVM LPJmL through enhanced soil and vegetation process representation. Work should improve the model's capacity to project climate-LULCC interactions for the computation of net climate effects, and ecosystem services. One focus is on the representation of diverse agricultural management systems, cropland abandonment/afforestation and forest management, in order to develop ways to account for their effects on biochemical cycles and biophysics.

Post-doctoral scientist position is open for the project "Towards an integrated prediction of Land & Sea Responses to global change in the Mediterranean Basin" (LaSeR-Med), which focusses on integrated socio-ecological modelling. The duration of the contract is initially one year, with a possible extension for a second year, depending on the initial results. The post-doc will be based within the Mediterranean Institute of marine and terrestrial Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE) in Aix-en-Provence, France. The project is part of the Labex OT-Med (http://www.otmed.fr/).

Applicants should hold a doctoral degree in physics, chemistry, microbiology, geosciences, environmental sciences or a related field of science. They should be familiar with modelling biogeochemical interactions between ecosystems and capable to further develop existing numerical ecosystem models. Programming skills (C) and modelling experience are therefore mandatory. Knowledge of R and of Unix/Linux environment will be an advantage. The candidate should have good written and oral communication skills. For work, good skills in the English language will be essential.

The project:

Terrestrial and marine ecosystems are connected through groundwater, river discharge and nutrient outflows (especially N and P). River catchments in the Mediterranean are N-intensive regions, mostly due to intensive agriculture in the North and to crop N2 fixation or food & feed import in the South. The fraction of nutrient reaching the sea constitutes significant anthropogenic forcing of many marine biological processes. For simulating the dynamics of the first levels of the marine food web (from nutrients to jellyfishes), the ocean biogeochemical model, Eco3M-MED, used and developed by the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO) within OT-Med, currently uses N and P measurements at river mouths, e.g. for the Rhône.

In order to estimate the impacts of global change on the functioning of marine ecosystems, the project aims at modeling the dependency of N and P outflows to the Mediterreanean sea toward land management. Land management is modelled as part of the agro-ecosystem model LPJmL (Bondeau et al., 2007), that has been especially adapted to the Mediterranean cropping systems (Fader et al., 2015). Among others, LPJmL simulates the daily carbon and water cycles, and the river discharges to the sea. Following existing approaches in the scientific literature, the post-doc will implement the nutrient N and P transfer in LPJmL, covering the net nutrient inputs to the river catchments by accounting for the processes occurring at the agro-ecosystem level (N2 biological fixation, fertilization, atmospheric deposition) and the net food and feed imports. Since only a minor fraction of the net nutrient inputs from Mediterranean basins reaches the sea, the retention along the nutrient cascade will have to be added to the LPJmL river routing scheme, similarly to the method used by the Riverstrahler model. Once the nutrient transfers have been introduced into LPJmL, simulations will be validated using current climate and land use forcing for comparisons with the existing observations from river outlets. Finally, future conditions will be assessed by using the model with scenarios of changing regional climate and land use / land management.

Your application:

Applications should contain a suitable motivation letter describing your anticipated role in the project, a CV, a list of scientific publications and the names of at least two scientists that can be contacted for references. They must be sent to Ms. Gabriela Boéri (gabriela.boeri@imbe.fr). Please prepare your application as a single file in pdf-format.

Questions about the project or the position can be directed to Dr. Alberte Bondeau (alberte.bondeau@imbe.fr). The position will be filled as soon as a suitable candidate has been found – work should start soon after that date. The salary and contract conditions will be determined according to standards set by Aix-Marseille University – questions in this regard can be directed to Sophie Pekar (pekar@otmed.fr).

• Assistant Programme Officer – Marine Digital Products (AD 916) Deadline: 5^th February 2016
• Assistant Programme Officer (AD 922) Deadline: 5^th February 2016

Applications for a Project Manager position for the Horizon 2020 project called COOP+ are now open at the University of Granada (Spain). This project aims to foster the cooperation among EU environmental research infrastructures (EISCAT, ICOS, EMSO, LifeWatch) and their international counterparts (NEON, TERN, AMERIFLUX, LBA, ILTER, OOI, AMISR, IMOS, etc.).

The Project Manager will be in contact with the project consortium on a daily basis to foster the cooperation among RIs. He/she will be responsible for communication with project partners (organizing meetings, workshops and videoconferences during the project duration, maintenance of web page). He/she will also participate in writing reports, timely production of deliverables as well as scientific outputs. He/she will join the "Laboratory of ecology" located in theAndalusian Institute for Earth System Research, at the University of Granada (Spain).

More infornation on the position, requirements and how to apply can be found in the offcial job offer.

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) was a composer who, like many of his contemporaries, drew deep inspiration from his natural environment. His passion for his home country ... Read more

The post The Influence of Nature in the Compositions of Jean Sibelius appeared first on CMUSE.

I don't know if you have ever been on a 15-hour flight with 8 and 13-year-old boys, but that is where I found myself a couple weeks ago.  I had been invited to minister at a conference in Australia and my wife and I decided it was finally time to take the whole family to the land down under.  This meant we would be taking 3 different flights that would total about 24 hours of flying. Lucky for me, my kids are pro travelers. I even remember one trip when my youngest was just 6 years old, he asked how long one of the trips was going to be and I said 8 hours.  His reply was, "oh, that's not too bad." I knew at that time that my kids were going to be able to handle almost any trip I threw at them.

So here we are on the 15-hour flight and the first thing everyone does is start choosing their movies.  My first thought is, no phone, no email, no communication...sleep. This is a rare opportunity for me. But instead I start filtering mindlessly through the movies and it only takes one swipe of the page before my 13-year-old elbows me and points to a movie that I have been telling him about since he was a little boy, Braveheart.   He was always too young to watch it before and it had been so long since I had seen it that I told him I would watch it and then decide if I thought he was ready. So instead of sleeping, I embarked on the three hour Braveheart adventure.  

If you have ever seen this movie then you know it is not for the weak of heart. I love how Robert Ebert describes it in his 1995 movie review . . .

Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" is a full-throated, red-blooded battle epic about William Wallace, the legendary Scots warrior who led his nation into battle against the English in the years around 1300. It's an ambitious film, big on simple emotions like love, patriotism, and treachery, and avoids the travelogue style of so many historical swashbucklers: Its locations look green, wet, vast, muddy and rugged. Not much is known about Wallace, known as Braveheart, except that according to an old epic poem, he unified the clans of Scotland and won famous battles against the English before being captured, tortured and executed as a traitor.

From that review does this sound like the type of movie I should be watching on a plane?  Yet here I am, three hours into the flight completely locked in. All the lights are off in the plane.  Both boys are asleep and William Wallace is getting tortured. My testosterone is through the roof. I forget I'm on a plane. I want to stand up and yell, mercy! I am a mess. Tears are pouring down my face.  I don't care who you are. If you don't feel something when Mel Gibson yells, "FREEDOM", while being tortured, then you need a pulse check. NOTE TO SELF . . . DON’T WATCH BRAVEHEART ON A PLANE!

As I watched this movie, God was doing a work in me that I was not expecting.  He was reminding me of the fight that he has called me to and the leanings of human nature to take over and fight for itself.  The story of Braveheart, like so many stories in the Bible, is centered around men who fought for power instead of people.  As I was sitting in the plane watching the soldiers mock the townspeople and abuse their position, I felt myself shrinking in my seat.  As I watched the King and those that he had placed in leadership abuse their power, I felt like it is much of what Jesus encountered when he walked the earth and a lot of what we encounter in church leadership today.  

As I travel around the world I see men and women who are fighting for position, but they have stopped fighting for people.  When Jesus stepped on the scene he was not concerned about a position, he was fighting always for people.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come. - Luke 4:18-19

One of my favorite lines in the movie Braveheart is when William Wallace says to Robert the Bruce . . .

There's a difference between us.  You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom.  And I go to make sure they have it.

I feel like this is what Jesus would say to a lot of ministers today. I know it is what he said to a lot of leaders in the Bible who abused their positions.  Is it what he is saying to you today?

Today's podcast is a sit down with the hosts of All About Worship, Dustin Smith & James Galbraith, talking about the important of valuing people, over the titles or positions we hold.  God has asked us to be responsible - able to gauge a response - for the people we lead.  Enjoy!

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship (Dustin Smith & James Galbraith) and WeAreWorship (Wisdom Moon & Morgan Shirey).

Subscribe to the podcast:
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This week Zorba and Karl look at research about what sleeping position is best, and they discuss a study that suggests people who exercise regularly have healthier belly fat. Plus, […]

Chicago – Medical residents and fellows, including first-year residents, will be allowed to work for up to 28 consecutive hours without sleep as part of revised requirements recently approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Vaasa, Finland — Organizations with “structurally powerful” CEOs experience fewer workplace injuries and illnesses, Finnish researchers claim.

Zenitel said it is excited to participate in the Audio Streaming Profile Working Group that will define an ONVIF profile for the interfaces and communications mechanisms for configuring and integrating audio speakers and intercom devices.

Washington – The Office of Management and Budget is reviewing a controversial U.S. Department of Agriculture final rule that would speed up poultry-processing lines, a move safety advocates warn could lead to more worker injuries.

Grade 43 Chain Positioning Lanyards are ideally suited for positioning or restraint applications when used in conjunction with a full-body harness with side or hip D-rings.

Sacramento, CA — The California Assembly has approved legislation that would require fast-food chains and their franchisees to share responsibility for complying with worker safety laws and regulations.

Washington – A new smartphone application from NIOSH is intended to help workers safely use extension ladders.

Following recent management changes, Bella Flooring Group reaffirms its market presence under new leadership, with plans for significant investment and product expansion in 2025. 

Children's Geographies; 02/01/2022
(AN 154441553); ISSN: 14733285
Academic Search Premier

Children's Geographies; 11/28/2023
(AN 173876125); ISSN: 14733285
Academic Search Premier

Children's Geographies; 04/01/2024
(AN 178088135); ISSN: 14733285
Academic Search Premier

Auer Hall, Simon Music Center
Tuesday, December 3, 2024, 8 – 10pm

More info: events.iu.edu…

Trump has made some unconventional and surprising choices when it comes to his foreign policy and defense team, like his plan to nominate Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be secretary of defense.

"O, Colored Earth" by Minnesota composer Steven Heitzeg was performed by the Minneapolis Youth Chorus during the inauguration ceremony Monday at the Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul.

Pasolini, World Music, and the Demise of the Film ComposerWhile somewhat neglected in the English-language literature on film music, Pasolini’s daring use of pre-existing music in his early films—most notably Bach’s sacred music and Vivaldi—marked a watershed in the history of the subject. It also places him alongside such figures as Godard and Kubrick (among others) in an ideal pantheon of mavericks who broke away with the traditional division of labor that underpinned the creation of film soundtracks. Pasolini’s decision to hire Morricone for the music for The Hawks and the Sparrows(1966) could have signaled a change in direction. In fact, following that first collaboration, the relationship between Pasolini and Morricone soon turned into something of an embarrassment for the composer. By the early 1970s, Morricone’s role was to merely arrange already-existing repertoires “scavenged” on various recordings by the omnivorous and ever up-to-date poet/director. Pasolini’s gleeful embrace of reproduced music calls to mind André Malraux’s “museum without walls” and his celebration of the library as both a cabinet of curiosities and workshop. Focusing on Medea(1969) and the so-called “Trilogy of Life,” this talk examines Morricone’s work as mediated and indeed guided by Pasolini the consumer, curator and ultimately producer—for Arabian Nights(1974)—of recordings.Short BioGiorgio BiancorossoGiorgio Biancorosso’s work investigates the boundaries of music and sound in the theater, cinema and digital media. He is the author of Situated Listening: The Sound of Absorption in Classical Cinema(Oxford University Press, 2016) and Remixing Wong Kar Wai: Music, Bricolage, and the Aesthetics of Oblivion(Duke University Press, 2024). Biancorosso is the co-founder and editor of the journal SSS (Sound-Stage-Screen) and the co-editor of Scoring Italian Cinema: Patterns of Collaboration(Routledge, forthcoming).Biancorosso is Professor of Music and inaugural director of the Society of Fellows at The University of Hong Kong. He is currently 2024-25 Luce East Asia Fellow in Musicology at the National Humanities Center, N.C.

dj sniff (Takuro Mizuta Lippit) Composition Colloquium (CNMAT) – Nov. 22Title of your talkParallel Traces - Records that stoped the war, trained the ear, and gave birth to turntablismshort abstractFor this occasion, I will talk about how my practice in turntablism and free improvisation led to the creation of my latest works that deal with historical narratives manifested through vinyl records and their playback devices. Namely, I will talk about Parallel Traces of the Jewel Voice (2022) and The Inverted Listening of Explosive Enemy Aircraft Sounds (2023) which both examine the critical roles that phonograph records played during WWⅡ Japan and its colonized territories, and Transformer (2023) - a sound installation that is constructed by reinterpreting stories about Grandmaster Flash’s early experiments with sound technology.short biodj sniff (Takuro Mizuta Lippit) is a musician and curator in the field of experimental electronic arts and improvised music. His work builds upon a distinct practice that combines DJing, instrument design, and free improvisation. Over the years, he has collaborated with artists such as: Evan Parker, Otomo Yoshihide, Tarek Atoui, Senyawa and many others. He holds a B.A. from Keio University Department of Aesthetics and Science of Arts, M.P.S. from NYU Interactive Telecommunications Program, and Ph.D. from De Montfort University Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media. Alongside his artistic work, he has held positions at various institutions such as Artistic Director of STEIM – Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music Amsterdam (2007-2012), Visiting Assistant Professor at City University of Hong Kong School of Creative Media (2012-17), and Associate Professor at Kyoto Seika University (2020 - 2022). Currently based in Los Angeles, he is the Co-Director of Asian Meeting Festival (AMF) - an international music festival that brings together experimental musicians from Asia since 2005, instructor at Shared Campus Summer Schools led by Zurich University of the Arts, and a part-time lecturer at Kyoto Seika and Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Global Arts.

Karola Obermueller Composition Colloquium (Morrison 250) – Nov. 15time, timbre, and transformation  abstractMy creative research revolves around a collection of themes which I return to again and again in my composing. I will discuss these areas of inquiry, how they connect to each other, and in which ways they form / govern / appear in my compositions. short bioKarola Obermüller’s composing, described by the NYT as “hyperkinetic music”, is constantly in search of the unknown. Her unique voice began forming in collages of sound made with tape recorders and evolved later with composition degrees obtained in Nuremberg, Saarbrücken, and at the Mozarteum Salzburg. Her sense of rhythm and form was forever changed by studying Carnatic and Hindustani classical music in India. Since receiving a doctorate from Harvard, Obermüller taught composition and co-directed the composition area at the University of New Mexico before joining the Department of Music at UC San Diego in 2023. Her music can be heard on CD (WERGO, New Focus Recordings, Brilliant Classics) and at karolaobermueller.net.

A three-ton FAB-3000 aerial bomb dropped by the Russian forces on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region of Russia cleared an area of ​​one square kilometer. An underground command post of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, an ammunition depot, and several units of combat armoured vehicles were obliterated in the bombing. It remains unknown how many Ukrainian servicemen were killed. The video of the use of the aerial bomb in the Kursk region appeared on November 7, but the date of the attack was not specified.

Neurologist-vertebrologist and manual therapy specialist, Professor of the UnitelmaSapienza Roman University and the UniCamillus International Medical University, Jalal Saidbegov, explains why sitting cross-legged can have a negative impact on the health of the spine. This position can cause a disruption of the anatomical structures of the intervertebral disc, which can lead to the development of protrusions and hernias in the lumbar region. Even for healthy individuals, this position is not very beneficial, so it should not be abused. However, there are a number of recommendations that can help reduce the risk of negative consequences: If you cannot avoid this position, try not to sit in it for a long time and not use it too often. Try to sit in this position for no more than five minutes, after which switch legs, making the upper leg the lower one, and vice versa. This will help redistribute the load on the spine and reduce its one-sided tension. Never bend forward or twist when sitting in this position, as this can further increase the load on the intervertebral discs. It is better to spend most of the time sitting in a classic and more useful position, leaning back and resting against the back of the chair, without leaving empty space between the lower back and the lower part of the chair back. Your legs should be able to reach the floor freely. If your chair or armchair is too high, you can use a footrest to achieve a comfortable position.

[Politics] :
A special counsel bill aimed at investigating various allegations surrounding First Lady Kim Keon-hee was passed at the National Assembly's legislation and judiciary committee meeting on Friday. The bill was passed unilaterally at the parliamentary judiciary subcommittee by members of the opposition after ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
The ruling People Power Party has launched a consultative body with the government and some doctors’ groups, but without the participation of the main opposition party, a trainee doctors’ group or the country’s largest group of doctors.  The body held its inaugural meeting at the National Assembly on ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
The opposition will submit a revised version of its bill mandating a special prosecutor to investigate allegations against first lady Kim Keon-hee, limiting the scope of the probe in an apparent effort to win votes from the ruling party when the bill returns to parliament for a revote after an expected ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
A senior foreign ministry official says if the incoming Donald Trump administration were to engage in dialogue with North Korea, it would be crucial to reflect South Korea’s position in the process of realizing the talks. The official made the remarks to reporters in Seoul on Tuesday, saying ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
The main opposition Democratic Party(DP) will stage a rally this weekend to denounce alleged influence peddling by President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee and call for a special counsel probe. DP spokesperson Hwang Jung-a said Wednesday that the party will hold the rally in Seoul’s ...

[more...]

The rotating substrate method of crystallite deposition is modeled, allowing computation of effective material coefficients of the layers resulting from the averaging. A worked numerical example particularized to 6mm ZnO is provided.

The position- and time-resolved monitoring of a mechanochemical reaction using synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction revealed a position-independent increase rate of product in the jar of a shaker mill.

We investigated the position and time dependence of a mechanochemical reaction induced by ball milling using in situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction with changing X-ray irradiation position. The mechanochemical reduction of AgCl with Cu was monitored in situ with the X-rays incident at two different vertical positions on the jar. Our previously developed multi-distance Rietveld method was applied to analyze the in situ diffraction data with a 1 min resolution. Both the vertical and the horizontal sample positions were determined using the sample-to-detector distances from the in situ data. Position dependence was found in the powder spreading and induction time. We reveal that the increase rate of the product is independent of the sample position when measured with a 1 min time resolution, confirming the validity of in situ monitoring of part of the space in a milling jar for a gradual mechanochemical reaction.

In situ and operando investigation of photocatalysts plays a fundamental role in understanding the processes of active phase formation and the mechanisms of catalytic reactions, which is crucial for the rational design of more efficient materials. Using a custom-made operando photocatalytic cell, an in situ procedure to follow the formation steps of Pd/TiO2 photocatalyst by synchrotron-based X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is proposed. The procedure resulted in the formation of ∼1 nm Pd particles with a much narrower size distribution and homogeneous spreading over TiO2 support compared with the samples generated in a conventional batch reactor. The combination of in situ XAS spectroscopy with high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy demonstrated the formation of single-atom Pd(0) sites on TiO2 as the initial step of the photodeposition process. Palladium hydride particles were observed for all investigated samples upon exposure to formic acid solutions.

The Pohang Accelerator Laboratory X-ray Free-Electron Laser (PAL-XFEL) operates hard X-ray and soft X-ray beamlines for conducting scientific experiments providing intense ultrashort X-ray pulses based on the self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) process. The X-ray free-electron laser is characterized by strong pulse-to-pulse fluctuations resulting from the SASE process. Therefore, online photon diagnostics are very important for rigorous measurements. The concept of photo-absorption and emission using solid materials is seldom considered in soft X-ray beamline diagnostics. Instead, gas monitoring detectors, which utilize the photo-ionization of noble gas, are employed for monitoring the beam intensity. To track the beam position at the soft X-ray beamline in addition to those intensity monitors, an X-ray ionization beam position monitor (XIBPM) has been developed and characterized at the soft X-ray beamline of PAL-XFEL. The XIBPM utilizes ionization of either the residual gas in an ultra-high-vacuum environment or injected krypton gas, along with a microchannel plate with phosphor. The XIBPM was tested separately for monitoring horizontal and vertical beam positions, confirming the feasibility of tracking relative changes in beam position both on average and down to single-shot measurements. This paper presents the basic structure and test results of the newly developed non-invasive XIBPM.

The diagnostics of X-ray beam properties has a critical importance at the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser facility. Besides existing diagnostic components, utilization of a diamond sensor was proposed to achieve radiation-hard, non-invasive beam position and pulse energy measurements for hard X-rays. In particular, with very hard X-rays, diamond-based sensors become a useful complement to gas-based devices which lose sensitivity due to significantly reduced gas cross-sections. The measurements presented in this work were performed with diamond sensors consisting of an electronic-grade single-crystal chemical-vapor-deposition diamond with position-sensitive resistive electrodes in a duo-lateral configuration. The results show that the diamond sensor delivers pulse-resolved X-ray beam position data at 2.25 MHz with an uncertainty of less than 1% of the beam size. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration of pulse-resolved position measurements at the MHz rate using a transmissive diamond sensor at a free-electron laser facility. It can therefore be a valuable tool for X-ray free-electron lasers, especially for high-repetition-rate machines, enabling applications such as beam-based alignment and intra-pulse-train position feedback.

A state-of-the-art multilayer deposition system with a 4200 mm-long linear substrate translator housed within an ultra-high vacuum chamber has been developed. This instrument is engineered to produce single and multilayer coatings, accommodating mirrors up to 2000 mm in length through the utilization of eight rectangular cathodes. To ensure the quality and reliability of the coatings, the system incorporates various diagnostic tools for in situ thickness uniformity and stress measurement. Furthermore, the system features an annealing process capable of heating up to 700°C within the load-lock chamber. The entire operation, including pump down, deposition and venting processes, is automated through user-friendly software. In addition, all essential log data, power of sputtering source, working pressure and motion positions are automatically stored for comprehensive data analysis. Preliminary commissioning results demonstrate excellent lateral film thickness uniformity, achieving 0.26% along the translation direction over 1500 mm in dynamic mode. The multilayer deposition system is poised for use in fabricating periodic, lateral-graded and depth-graded multilayers, specifically catering to the beamlines for diverse scientific applications at Diamond Light Source.

The widespread adoption of cryoEM technologies for structural biology has pushed the discipline to new frontiers. A significant worldwide effort has refined the single-particle analysis (SPA) workflow into a reasonably standardized procedure. Significant investments of development time have been made, particularly in sample preparation, microscope data-collection efficiency, pipeline analyses and data archiving. The widespread adoption of specific commercial microscopes, software for controlling them and best practices developed at facilities worldwide has also begun to establish a degree of standardization to data structures coming from the SPA workflow. There is opportunity to capitalize on this moment in the maturation of the field, to capture metadata from SPA experiments and correlate the metadata with experimental outcomes, which is presented here in a set of programs called EMinsight. This tool aims to prototype the framework and types of analyses that could lead to new insights into optimal microscope configurations as well as to define methods for metadata capture to assist with the archiving of cryoEM SPA data. It is also envisaged that this tool will be useful to microscope operators and facilities looking to rapidly generate reports on SPA data-collection and screening sessions.