Being a “Good Parent” in Parent–Teacher Conferences

This research advances our understanding of what constitutes a “good parent” in the course of actual social interaction. Examining video‐recorded naturally occurring parent–teacher conferences, this article shows that, while teachers deliver student‐praising utterances, parents may display that they are gaining knowledge; but when teachers' actions adumbrate student‐criticizing utterances, parents systematically display prior knowledge. This article elucidates the details of how teachers and parents tacitly collaborate to enable parents to express student‐troubles first, demonstrating that parents display competence—appropriate involvement with children's schooling—by asserting their prior knowledge of, and/or claiming/describing their efforts to remedy, student‐troubles. People (have to) display competence generically in interaction. By explicating how parents display competence, this article offers insights for several areas of communication research.     

From “Face‐Saving” to “Cost Saving”: Encouraging and Promoting Business Mediation in Asia

The past decade has witnessed a surge in efforts to institutionalize and popularize business mediation as an alternative to litigation in Asia. For example, the anticipated establishment of the Singapore International Mediation Centre ( bit.ly/1rqO845 ) and the existence of the Hong Kong Mediation Council ( bit.ly/1vQWqGS ) and Financial Dispute Resolution Centre ( bit.ly/1skmJpO ), evince an increasing demand for mediation in Asia. It has been just over two years since the Hong Kong SAR adopted a Mediation Ordinance ( bit.ly/1pUVDRe ), which entered into effect on January 1, 2013, signaling that states are becoming aware of the need to regulate mediation.     

Coding theorems on a generalized “useful” inaccuracy

Taneja and Tuteja proved a noiseless coding theorem by considering “useful” inaccuracy and “useful” mean codeword length. In this paper we consider a generalization of the “useful” mean codeword length and establish noiseless coding theorems by using this generalization.     

Electrochemical Investigations of Polyethylene Glycol‐Based “Soggy Sand” Electrolytes – From the Local Mechanism to the Overall Conduction

Using the example of SiO₂ dispersions in LiClO₄/polyethylene glycol electrolytes, the conduction mechanism of “soggy sand” electrolytes is discussed. The study is essentially based on zeta potential, impedance and transference number measurements as well as on modeling. All the results can be explained by anion adsorption by the oxide particles and increased concentration of free Li⁺ in the double layer. The initially colloidal dispersion quickly forms fractal networks by cluster–cluster aggregation. Once they percolate, an interfacially dominated Li⁺ conductance is observed. The subsequent coarsening of the network is self‐decelerating leading to a steady state conductivity that is, for low volume fractions, enhanced compared to SiO₂ free electrolytes. At higher values, blocking and inhomogeneity effects (e.g., salt trapping) lead to decreased values of the overall conductivity.     

Stability and Hydrogenation of “Bare” Gadolinium Nanoparticles

Gadolinium nanoparticles, deposited via an inert gas evaporation method, show improved stability towards oxidation and it is therefore possible to carry out an ex‐situ investigation on “bare” Gd nanoparticles, i.e., in the absence of a protective Pd layer, for the first time. A size‐induced structural transformation from hexagonal close packing to the higher‐symmetry face‐centered cubic structure is observed. The important observation of hydrogen–Gd‐nanoparticle interaction at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, without a Pd catalytic layer, makes Gd nanoparticles a potential candidate for hydrogen‐sensing, switching, and storage applications.     

“Black” Titania Coatings Composed of Sol–Gel Imprinted Mie Resonators Arrays

Optical technologies and devices rely on the controlled manipulation of light propagation through a medium. This is generally governed by the inherent effective refractive index of the material as well as by its structure and dimensionality. Although a precise control over light propagation with sub‐wavelength size objects is a crucial issue for a plethora of applications, the widely used fabrication methods remain cumbersome and expensive. Here, a sol–gel dip‐coating method combined with nanoimprinting lithography on arbitrary glass and silicon substrates is implemented for the fabrication of TiO₂‐based dielectric Mie resonators. The technique allows obtaining sub‐micrometric pillars featuring unprecedented vertical aspect ratios (>1) with relatively high fidelity and precision. Spectroscopic characterization at visible and near‐infrared frequencies demonstrate that the resonant properties of these dielectric pillar arrays allow for a drastic reduction of light transmission (cutting more than 50% on glass) and reduced reflection (reflecting less than 3% on glass and 16% on bulk silicon), accounting for an efficient light trapping. These results provide a guideline for the fabrication of Mie resonators using a fast, versatile, low‐cost, low‐temperature technique for efficient light manipulation at the nanoscale.     

“Stiff–Soft” Binary Synergistic Aerogels with Superflexibility and High Thermal Insulation Performance

Designing aerogel materials featuring both high thermal insulation property and excellent mechanical robustness is of great interest for applications in superior integrated energy management systems. To meet the above requirements, composite aerogels based on hierarchical “stiff–soft” binary networks are reported, in which secondary mesoporous polymethylsilsesquioxane domains intertwined by bacterial cellulose nanofibrillar networks are connected in tandem. The resulting composite aerogels are characterized by highly porous (93.6%) and nanosized structure with a surface area of 660 m² g^?1, leading to the excellent thermal insulation performance with a low thermal conductivity of 15.3 mW m^?1 K^?1. The integrated “stiff–soft” binary nature also endows the composite aerogels with high flexibility that can conform to various substrates as well as large tensile strength that can withstand more than 2.70 × 10⁴ times its own weight. These composite aerogels show multifunctionality in terms of efficient wearable protection, controllable thermal management, and ultrafast oil/water separation. These favorable multifeatures present composite aerogels ideal for aerospace, industrial, and commercial applications.