bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CCD camera as feasible large-area-size x-ray detector for x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and imaging
Authors: Zhao Wenyang , Sakurai Kenji
Published: June 2017

As X-ray fluorescence radiation isotropically spreads from the sample, one of the most important requirements for spectrometers for many years has been a large solid angle. Charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras are quite promising options because they have a fairly large area size, usually larger than 150 mm2. The present work has examined the feasibility of a commercially available camera with an ordinary CCD chip (1024 × 1024 pixels, the size of one pixel is 13 μm × 13 μm, designed for visible light) as an X-ray fluorescence detector. As X-ray photons create charges in the CCD chip, reading very quickly the amount is the key for this method. It is very simple if the charges always go into one pixel. As the charges quite often spread to several pixels, and sometimes can be lost, it is important to recover the information by filtering out the unsuccessful events. For this, a simple, versatile, and reliable scheme has been proposed. It has been demonstrated that the energy resolution of the present camera is 150 eV at Mn Kα, and also that its overall achievement in seeing minor elements is almost compatible with conventional X-ray fluorescence detectors. When the CCD camera is combined with a micro-pinhole collimator, full field X-ray fluorescence imaging with a spatial resolution of 20 μm becomes possible. Further feasibility in practical X-ray fluorescence analysis is discussed.
Hierarchy of instabilities for two counter-streaming magnetized pair beams: Influence of field obliquity
Authors: Bret A. , Dieckmann M. E.
Published: June 2017

The hierarchy of unstable modes when two counter-streaming pair plasmas interact over a flow-aligned magnetic field has been recently investigated [Phys. Plasmas 23, 062122 (2016)]. The analysis is here extended to the case of an arbitrarily tilted magnetic field. The two plasma shells are initially cold and identical. For any angle θ ∈ [0, π/2] between the field and the initial flow, the hierarchy of unstable modes is numerically determined in terms of the initial Lorentz factor of the shells γ0, and the field strength as measured by a parameter denoted σ. For θ = 0, four different kinds of mode are likely to lead the linear phase. The hierarchy simplifies for larger θ's, partly because the Weibel instability can no longer be cancelled in this regime. For θ > 0.78 (44°) and in the relativistic regime, the Weibel instability always govern the interaction. In the non-relativistic regime, the hierarchy becomes θ-independent because the interaction turns to be field-independent. As a result, the two-stream instability becomes the dominant one, regardless of the field obliquity.
Strong correlation in incremental full configuration interaction
Authors: Zimmerman Paul M.
Published: June 2017

Incremental Full Configuration Interaction (iFCI) reaches high accuracy electronic energies via a many-body expansion of the correlation energy. In this work, the Perfect Pairing (PP) ansatz replaces the Hartree-Fock reference of the original iFCI method. This substitution captures a large amount of correlation at zero-order, which allows iFCI to recover the remaining correlation energy with low-order increments. The resulting approach, PP-iFCI, is size consistent, size extensive, and systematically improvable with increasing order of incremental expansion. Tests on multiple single bond, multiple double bond, and triple bond dissociations of main group polyatomics using double and triple zeta basis sets demonstrate the power of the method for handling strong correlation. The smooth dissociation profiles that result from PP-iFCI show that FCI-quality ground state computations are now within reach for systems with up to about 10 heavy atoms.
Quantum confinement modulation on the performance of nanometer thin body GaSb/InAs tunnel field-effect transistors
Authors: Wang Zhi , Wang Liwei , En Yunfei , Jiang Xiang-Wei
Published: June 2017

In this paper, we have presented an atomistic quantum simulation study to investigate the device performances of GaSb/InAs heterojunction tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs) with nanometer body thicknesses. It is revealed that the thin junction induced quantum confinement effect results in a heterojunction type transition from type-III to type-II as the junction thickness reduces, which can be used as an effective modulation of the TFET device performance. It is found that as the channel thickness decreases, both the ON current and OFF current of the device decrease significantly due to the quantum confinement induced effective band gap enlargement. In addition, the OFF current of the heterojunction GaSb/InAs TFET is always larger than that of the homojunction InAs TFET, which is possibly caused by the GaSb/InAs interfacial state assisted tunneling. It is also revealed that the subthreshold swing of the heterojunction TFET does not change much as the channel thickness is reduced.
Experimental observation of multi-spatial-mode quantum correlations in four-wave mixing with a conical pump and a conical probe
Authors: Du Jinjian , Cao Leiming , Zhang Kai , Jing Jietai
Published: June 2017

Extensive attention has been drawn in generating multimode quantum states in recent years. Many efforts have been made during the last decade to produce such states. In this paper, we have experimentally demonstrated a scheme for generating a multi-spatial-mode quantum light source by a non-degenerated four-wave mixing process with a conical pump and a conical probe in a hot atomic vapor cell. The degree of the intensity-difference squeezing between the generated twin beams is about −4.1 dB. Due to the similar conical shape of the concentric quantum correlated beams, both the amplified probe and the generated conjugate beams can be decomposed into many angular modes. We have also experimentally verified the multi-spatial-mode nature of the generated quantum correlation by comparing the noise levels' variation tendencies of global attenuation and local cutting attenuations. In addition, we have also found the optimal values of each parameter in this scheme for further applications. Due to our scheme's advantages such as compactness, phase-insensitivity, and easy scalability, we have already shown a promising candidate for generating multi-spatial-mode quantum states, which may find potential applications in quantum metrology and quantum imaging, such as quantum-enhanced superresolution and the generation of multiple quantum correlated images.
Language regimes and acts of citizenship in multilingual Luxembourg
Authors: Horner Kristine
Published: June 2017

Linked to global processes and the reconfigurations of ‘outer’ and ‘inner’ European Union (EU) borders are attempts at harmonizing migration policies across EU member-states as well as introducing an additional layer of EU citizenship to that of the state. At the same time, discourses on citizenship in many EU member-states continue to be informed by the ideal of nation-state congruence and the dogma of social and linguistic homogeneism. Combining research on regimes of language and acts of citizenship, this paper provides an analysis of discourses on language, integration and citizenship in Luxembourg. The analysis shows how disputes concerning the introduction of the formalized testing of Luxembourgish as part of the 2008 law on la nationalité luxembourgeoise ‘Luxembourgish nationality’ are intertwined with contestations over transformations of long-standing language regimes and with the issue of whether the authority of Luxembourgish is bound up with notions of anonymity or authenticity.
‘They look into our lips’
Authors: Khan Kamran , Blackledge Adrian
Published: June 2017

The British citizenship ceremony marks the legal endpoint of the naturalisation process. While the citizenship ceremony may be a celebration, it can also be a final examination. Using an ethnographically-informed case study, this article follows one candidate, ‘W’, through the naturalisation process in the UK. W is a migrant Yemeni at the end of the naturalisation process. Bakhtin’s notion of “ideological becoming” offers an analytic orientation into how competing discourses may operate. This article focuses on the role of what Bakhtin describes as “authoritative discourse” in the citizenship ceremony, in particular the Oath/Affirmation of Allegiance which citizenship candidates are required to recite. Success in the ceremony is dependent on how individuals negotiate authoritative discourse. This study follows W and highlights the complexities and negotiations of authoritative discourse in a citizenship ceremony.
Linguistic citizenship
Authors: Williams Quentin E. , Stroud Christopher
Published: June 2017

A major challenge facing South Africa is that of reconstructing a meaningful and inclusive notion of citizenship in the aftermath of its apartheid past and in the face of narratives of divisiveness that reach back from this past and continue to reverberate in the present. Many of the problems confronting South African social transformation are similar to the rest of the postcolonial world that continues to wrestle with the inherited colonial divide between citizen and subject. In this article, we explore how engagement with diversity and marginalization is taking place across a range of non-institutional and informal political arenas. Here, we elaborate on an approach towards the linguistic practices of the political everyday in terms of a notion of linguistic citizenship and by way of conclusion argue that the contradictions and turmoils of contemporary South Africa require further serious deliberation around alternative notions of citizenship and their semiotics.
The party’s over?
Authors: Wee Lionel
Published: June 2017

This paper highlights the dynamic nature of the relationship between government and society, drawing on as a case study the changing relationship between the Singapore government and the citizenry. I discuss the conditions under which the People’s Action Party is under pressure to change its style of government,. Following on from this discussion, I make two key points. One, concepts such as habitus and act (Isin 2008) have been employed to elucidate the nature of citizenship. But they are also relevant to our understanding of government. Two, the distinction between act and habitus, at least as articulated by Isin (2008), confuses two ontologically distinct entitiies: a disposition to act, and the action itself. I suggest that this confusion arises in part from Isin’s failure to examine carefully the communicative modes of engagement between the government and the citizenry.
How does irony arise in experience?
Authors: Gibbs, Jr. Raymond W. , Samermit Patrawat
Published: June 2017

How does irony arise in experience? Most studies of irony focus on the verbal expression of ironic meaning. Irony is typically viewed as a rhetorical tool used for indirect communication. But irony also emerges automatically in many nonlinguistic contexts. People often judge paradoxical situations to be ironic, and sometimes recognize that their own failed attempts at thought suppression also lead to a sense or feeling of irony. Irony can also emerge when people enact certain embodied metaphors relevant to pretense and benign violations of the body. This chapter explores these various ways by which irony presents itself in everyday life. We suggest that irony is less an indirect form of communication than fundamental kind of bicoherent thought which underlie many cognitive and expressive actions.
Introducing a three-dimensional model of verbal irony
Authors: Burgers Christian , Steen Gerard J.
Published: June 2017

We introduce a three-dimensional model for irony research, which is an extension of Steen’s (2008, 2011) three-dimensional model of metaphor and similarly argues that the study of irony requires three distinct dimensions: (1) language, (2) thought and (3) communication. Irony in language requires the study of irony’s linguistic structure. Irony in thought focuses on the obligatory reversal of evaluation between the propositional and intended meaning of an ironic utterance. Irony in communication, finally, focuses on whether the literal meaning serves as a distinct referent in the meaning of the ironic utterance. Our model brings together contemporary research on irony and metaphor within one framework and can guide and inspire both theoretical and empirical research.
On ironic puns in Portuguese authentic oral data
Authors: Batoréo Hanna J.
Published: June 2017

In the present paper we are going to focus on two Portuguese case studies (one in European Portuguese – EP and one in Brazilian Portuguese – BP) of the ironic oral discourse that result in verbal puns. In our analysis we postulate that studying multiple meanings (polysemy and homonymy) in puns can explain how irony functions on cognitive, linguistic and cultural levels given that (i) irony is a fundamental way of thinking about human experience (Gibbs & Colston, 2007; Gibbs, 2012); (ii) it is perspectivised and culturally grounded (Tobin & Israel, 2012; Dancygier & Sweetser, 2012, 2015); and (iii) linguistically explicit in verbal irony (Bryant, 2012, cf. Batoréo, 2016).

The study is qualitative in character: the aim of the analysis is to exemplify cognitive and linguistic mechanisms culturally grounded that make irony work. In two case studies of authentic Portuguese discourse with ironic puns chosen out of larger corpora (cf. References) to be discussed in the present paper we shall argue that (i) polysemy and homonymy are cognitive and linguistic phenomena that trigger ironic puns; (ii) metonymy organised in metonymical chains or networks can be a complex cognitive mechanism that underlies polysemy; (iii) verbal puns are perspectivised and strongly culturally and historically grounded.
Irony, pretence and fictively-elaborating hyperbole
Authors: Barnden John A.
Published: June 2017

This article broadly adopts a well-known approach to verbal irony: taking ironic speakers to be engaging in pretence; and it follows others in viewing the pretences as (micro-)dramas created by the ironists, who act characters in the dramas. But it breaks new ground by strongly emphasizing the world of the drama (the drama’s world). In drama, acted characters operate within some implied world (e.g., a historical setting). Equally, in irony there is such a world. We then see a triangle of contrast: not only (a) the opposition usually considered in irony theory – between acted characters’ views/attitudes and the nature of the real world – but also potential contrast between (b) those views/attitudes and the rest of the drama’s world, and between (c) drama’s world and real world. This particularly helps us analyse fictively-elaborating hyperbole, arising from drama-world details invented by ironists. The article also invites non-pretence irony theories to try to account for the effects.
Cognitive modeling and irony
Authors: de Mendoza Ibáñez Francisco José Ruiz
Published: June 2017

This chapter studies the role of the pragmatic notion of echo in creating ironic meaning. The notion of echo is treated as a cognitive operation rather than just a pragmatic task, which combines with other cognitive operations of at least two kinds: concept-building and inferential. The former operations include the creation of echoed and observed scenarios. The latter include the cancellation and addition of structure in an echoed scenario resulting from the contrast between the two scenarios. This account of irony, which is complementary of the one developed in Relevance Theory, allows us to trace the origin of the speaker’s attitudinal component in an ironic utterance to the underlying cognitive activity involving the cancellation of echoed assumptions within an inferential reasoning schema.
The standard experimental approach to the study of irony
Authors: Katz Albert
Published: June 2017

The traditional way in which irony has been studied in the laboratory takes a critical item, such as the sentence “You are a true friend” and embeds it in a verbal context that either supports a sincere reading or a counterfactual ironic one. One can question the ecological validity of this approach. In this chapter, three demonstrations are presented to show that by making slight changes to the traditional methodology one can provide insights into the discourse context in which irony is embedded, the pragmatic effects of the critical statements above that provided by the discourse context and, finally, a means of disentangling the multi-faced aspects of the ironic experience.
Post-truth politics?
Authors: Montgomery Martin
Published: June 2017

This paper focuses on aspects of the discourse of Donald Trump during his campaign for the U.S. Presidency. It argues that, although we can undoubtedly identify aspects of authoritarian populism in his campaign discourse, its appeal rested on more than its content. Indeed, although significant parts of the U.S. public sphere rejected many of his claims as lies, significant portions of the electorate found his words acceptable on some contrasting basis. By developing a comparison between Habermas’s notion of ‘validity claims’ and Aristotle’s distinctions between different kinds of rhetorical appeal, the paper suggests that a discourse of ‘authenticity’ rather than ‘truth’ provided a crucial cornerstone of Trump’s appeal to his electoral base.
Radical right-wing parties in Europe
Authors: Rydgren Jens
Published: June 2017

In this paper I discuss, critically, the literature on populism and the extent to which it applies to the contemporary radical right-wing parties in Europe. These parties are often – and increasingly – referred to as populist parties. I argue that it is misleading to label these parties ‘populist parties’, since populism is not the most pertinent feature of this party family. These parties are mainly defined by ethnic nationalism, and not a populist ideology. In their discourse they are primarily preoccupied with questions pertaining to national identity and national security – and their ‘negative’ doubles immigration, multiculturalism, Islamist threat – and they consistently pit ‘the people’ mainly against elites that they view as responsible for a cultural and political threat against their idealized image of their nation state. The ethnic nationalism of European radical right-wing parties is more important for their discourse and tends to influence the populist elements.
The “Tweet Politics” of President Trump
Authors: Kreis Ramona
Published: June 2017

This study explores how U.S. President Donald Trump employs Twitter as a strategic instrument of power politics to disseminate his right-wing populist discourse. Applying the discourse-historical approach to critical discourse analysis, this article analyzes the meaning and function of Trump’s discursive strategies on Twitter. The data consists of over 200 tweets collected from his personal account between his inauguration on January 20, 2017 and his first address to Congress on February 28, 2017. The findings show how Trump uses an informal, direct, and provoking communication style to construct and reinforce the concept of a homogeneous people and a homeland threatened by the dangerous other. Moreover, Trump employs positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation to further his agenda via social media. This study demonstrates how his top-down use of Twitter may lead to the normalization of right-wing populist discourses, and thus aims to contribute to the understanding of right-wing populist discourse online.
A new direction for Arabic sociolinguistics
Authors: Bassiouney Reem
Published: June 2017

In this study, I explore three cases related to linguistic variation and the individual in the Egyptian sociopolitical context. In all three cases, linguistic variation and code choice are mediated not only through linguistic and sociolinguistic variables, but through an ideological process in which talk about language is at times as significant as linguistic choices. Within this social context, an individual’s linguistic choices are not just natural but performed, and at times may be the result or reflection of a wider conflict. I analyze these three cases using the concepts of indexicality (Silverstein 1996) and stance (Du Bois 2007).
Prosodic domains of syllabification in Sudanese Arabic
Authors: Ali Abdel-Khalig
Published: June 2017

This paper proposes a prosodic account of syncope and of epenthesis and consonant deletion, which function as strategies for repairing unsyllabified segments, in three dialects of Sudanese Arabic. The analysis identifies the precise prosodic domains of syllabification in these dialects and shows how these domains interact with the phenomena discussed. On the one hand, the dialects diverge significantly with respect to the prosodic levels at which unsyllabified segments are repaired; this divergence is shown to follow from the degree of restriction each dialect places on word-level syllabification. On the other hand, the dialects exhibit fairly similar patterns with respect to the phrasal domains of syncope; this similarity is shown to be a reflex of the degree of restriction on the phrasal domains of resyllabification.
Acoustic properties of prominence and foot structure in Arabic
Authors: Vogel Irene , Athanasopoulou Angeliki , Pincus Nadya
Published: June 2017

The acoustic properties of stress and focus prominence are examined in a large, systematically structured corpus of Arabic collected in Amman, Jordan. A modified version of the Functional Load Hypothesis correctly predicts that duration, a contrastive property of Arabic vowels, will not constitute the main cue of either prominence type as this would obscure its phonemic role. Instead, both Binary Logistic Regression Analyses and descriptive analyses indicate F0 as the main cue for both types of prominence. In addition, duration and F0 patterns reveal word-final lengthening and boundary effects. These lead to a modification of the stress assignment algorithm that permits the construction of uneven trimoraic trochees, as opposed to limiting feet to bimoraic trochees.
Some issues for an analysis of the templatic comparative in Arabic with a focus on the Egyptian dialect
Authors: Davis Stuart
Published: June 2017

The comparative in Arabic appears to be a quintessential case of templatic morphology. In most Arabic dialects, the comparative seems to be formed by taking the base adjective and matching it to the templatic shape aCCaC. For example, [kibi:r] ‘big’ has the comparative [akbar]. However, when the details of comparative formation are taken into consideration, various issues arise concerning morphology, syntax, semantics, and phonology. This paper identifies and discusses several of these issues regarding the Arabic comparative, with a primary focus on the Egyptian dialect. Among several novel observations, this study demonstrates that the Arabic comparative reflects a root-based process. This finding offers important support for the consonantal-root-based view of Arabic word formation and, consequently, argues against a strictly stem- or word-based view of Arabic morphology.
Participles in Syrian Arabic
Authors: Hallman Peter
Published: June 2017

This paper explores the distribution and interpretation of active and passive participles in contemporary Syrian Arabic. The fact that Syrian Arabic participles license objective Case suggests they are ‘verbal’ participles, i.e. verbs ‘disguised’ as adjectives. However, a detailed investigation uncovers substantial parallels with English adjectival participles. I therefore argue that Syrian Arabic adjectival participles differ from those in better-studied Indo-European languages in containing licensing structure for object Case. This, in turn, means that adjectival participles are not necessarily structurally defective, as has been proposed in the literature, but that the size of adjectival participles is a point of cross-linguistic parametric variation.
Copular Constructions in Lithuanian
Authors: Mikulskas Rolandas
Published: June 2017

The fourth volume in the VARGReB series presents an in-depth investigation of Lithuanian copular constructions from the viewpoint of Cognitive Grammar. Apart from the fundamental problems of the ontology and taxonomy of copular sentences, the author also discusses a number of more specific questions on which the Lithuanian data, contrasted with those of English and other languages hitherto dealt with in the literature, can shed an interesting light, such as the nature and distinctive features of specificationals, the problem of subjecthood in this subtype of copular constructions, the aspectual semantics of copular sentences, etc. The attention given to the grammatical context of copular constructions and the multifarious relationships linking them to other construction types enhances the book’s relevance to the field of Lithuanian studies, whereas the dialogue and confrontation between the Cognitive perspective adopted by the author and the more formal approaches hitherto applied to the problem of copular sentences will add to its interest for the general reader.
Phylogenetics in biology and linguistics
Authors: Borchsenius Finn , Daval-Markussen Aymeric , Bakker Peter
Published: June 2017

The main goal of this chapter is to introduce the reader to the parallels and commonalities that exist between the fields of biology and linguistics. Researchers from both fields faced similar problems when seeking to account for the descent and diversification of related entities (species, languages). Therefore, they often sought mutual inspiration and opted for similar solutions. This has resulted in a convergence of models and methods in both fields. This chapter is divided into two parts. Firstly, we review some of the methodological and conceptual developments that have occurred in biology since the emergence of the field of evolutionary biology. There will be an emphasis on the last decade, where a variety of computer-based analyses have been developed. To illustrate the benefits of these tools, phylogenetic methods are applied in the second part of the chapter to a group of high-contact languages (creoles), which have long defied attempts at classification due to their multiple ancestry.
The typology and classification of French-based creoles
Authors: Daval-Markussen Aymeric
Published: June 2017

The main aim of this chapter is to examine the internal relationships of several French-based creoles and to provide a classification of these languages, a problem that has been left unsolved (or only partially solved) by creolists so far. We show that the issue can be tackled with a phylogenetic approach based on a selection of lexical and structural features, resulting in suggestive patterns on the connections between the various creoles in the sample. An advantage in using phylogenetic methods is that it also allows us to assess the relative degree of divergence of a creole from its lexifier. Therefore, French was added to the sample of French-based creoles. The results obtained using this method are largely in accordance with previous attempts from various scholars and show that the application of phylogenetic tools to the study of contact languages can complement traditional methods.
Understanding the exclusionary politics of early Turkish nationalism: an ethnic boundary-making approach
Authors: Goalwin Gregory J.
Published: June 2017

Turkish nationalism has long presented a study in contrasts. The nationalist movement that created the Republic of Turkey sought to define the nation in explicitly civic and inclusive terms, promoting a variety of integrationist reforms. Those same nationalist politicians, however, endorsed other policies that were far more exclusionary, expelling many religious and ethnic minorities from the new nation and imposing harsh restrictions on those who remained. The seemingly contradictory nature of Turkish nationalist policies has been mirrored by much of the scholarship on Turkish nationalism, which has often viewed Turkish nationality through the lens of the “civic/ethnic divide,” with various scholars arguing that the Turkish nation is exclusively civic or ethnic. This article seeks to transcend this dichotomous way of looking at Turkish nationalism. I argue that the policies previously seen as being exclusively civic or ethnic are in fact both examples of boundary-making processes, designed to forge a cohesive nationalist community. Seen through a boundary-making perspective, the seemingly contradictory nature of Turkish nationalist policies in its early years is not paradoxical at all, but represents a multidimensional effort to construct a cohesive national community that could replace the defunct Ottoman state.
The fate and lifespan of human monocyte subsets in steady state and systemic inflammation
Authors: Patel Amit A. , Zhang Yan , Fullerton James N. , Boelen Lies , Rongvaux Anthony , Maini Alexander A. , Bigley Venetia , Flavell Richard A. , Gilroy Derek W. , Asquith Becca , Macallan Derek , Yona Simon
Published: June 2017

In humans, the monocyte pool comprises three subsets (classical, intermediate, and nonclassical) that circulate in dynamic equilibrium. The kinetics underlying their generation, differentiation, and disappearance are critical to understanding both steady-state homeostasis and inflammatory responses. Here, using human in vivo deuterium labeling, we demonstrate that classical monocytes emerge first from marrow, after a postmitotic interval of 1.6 d, and circulate for a day. Subsequent labeling of intermediate and nonclassical monocytes is consistent with a model of sequential transition. Intermediate and nonclassical monocytes have longer circulating lifespans (∼4 and ∼7 d, respectively). In a human experimental endotoxemia model, a transient but profound monocytopenia was observed; restoration of circulating monocytes was achieved by the early release of classical monocytes from bone marrow. The sequence of repopulation recapitulated the order of maturation in healthy homeostasis. This developmental relationship between monocyte subsets was verified by fate mapping grafted human classical monocytes into humanized mice, which were able to differentiate sequentially into intermediate and nonclassical cells.
Authors: Vogenauer Stefan
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 1.1, which deals with freedom of contract, the most important fundamental principle of contract law for contracts governed by the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC). Art 1.1 restates a general principle of law in the technical sense; that is, a principle common to the laws of all — or at least most — jurisdictions in the world. All modern contract laws recognize freedom of contract, albeit for different reasons and to varying degrees. Art 1.1 covers two aspects of contractual freedom: the first is the freedom to decide whether to conclude a contract at all, and with whom; the second is the freedom to contract on the terms desired by the parties. Limitations of the freedom to determine the content of the contract follow from mandatory rules of the PICC.
Authors: Vogenauer Stefan
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 1.2, which spells out a fundamental principle of contract law: the principle of freedom from form, or ‘principle of informality’. No contract, statement, or other act made under the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) requires a particular formality in order to be valid and enforceable; it is sufficient if these are made orally or by mere conduct. While the PICC admit for exceptions to some of their other fundamental contract law principles, the principle of freedom from form is executed in the purest form possible. It applies to the formation of contracts as well as to their subsequent modification and termination, it is reinforced by Art 3.1.2, and there is not a single exception to it. Art 1.2 covers relevant and mandatory formal requirements, formal requirements agreed by the parties, and the concept of ‘writing’.
Authors: Vogenauer Stefan
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 1.3 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) regarding a fundamental principle of contract law: the principle of bindingness of contract, also known as ‘sanctity of contract’ or pacta sunt servanda — contracts validly concluded under the law are enforced by the law. The underlying rationale of the principle of bindingness of contract, and thus of Art 1.3, may be contested in contract theory. The bindingness of contracts allows parties to arrange their affairs and thus promotes legal certainty. The contract is only binding ‘upon the parties’. Persons who are not a party to the contract are not bound by it: an agreement of the parties to make a contract for the detriment of a third person is not valid. This commentary considers the implications of and exceptions to the principle of bindingness.
Authors: Cuniberti Gilles
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 1.4, which clarifies the relationship between the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) and mandatory rules originating from sources external to the PICC. Mandatory rules are rules which cannot be derogated from by the parties, and are therefore mandatory for them. The typical rationale for making certain rules mandatory is to protect weaker parties or the public interest. Mandatory rules can be of two kinds: domestic mandatory rules and international mandatory rules. Art 1.4 covers relevant rules of private international law, choice of law rules applicable in court proceedings, arbitral tribunals, and origin of mandatory rules. It also discusses the applicability of the PICC to international contracts that include an arbitration clause, along with the application of mandatory rules by arbitral tribunals in relation to the doctrine of transnational public policy.
Authors: Vogenauer Stefan
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 1.6, which provides a number of broad interpretative guidelines for the interpretation and the supplementation of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC). The provision does not purport to set forth a complete set of detailed rules and principles of contractual interpretation. It simply highlights some interpretative elements that are of particular importance in the context of international uniform law. The interpretation of a PICC article is concerned with determining whether a given set of facts falls within the scope of application of such article and therefore triggers the legal consequences spelt out in the provision. Art 1.6 outlines the international character and autonomous interpretation of the PICC, criteria of interpretation, weight of the interpretative criteria, issues within the scope of the PICC but not expressly settled by them, and ‘settling the issue’.
Authors: Vogenauer Stefan
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 1.8 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC), which states that a party cannot act inconsistently with an understanding it has caused the other party to have and upon which that other party reasonably has acted in reliance to its detriment. A party that behaves inconsistently within the meaning of Art 1.8 acts in bad faith. Therefore, Art 1.8 can be seen as the most general of the various specific applications of the general obligation to act in accordance with good faith and fair dealing — spelled out in Art 1.7 — that are contained in the black letter rules of the PICC. Art 1.8 covers the requirements for inconsistent behaviour, remedies for inconsistent behaviour, and exclusions or limitations of the provision on inconsistent behaviour.
Authors: Vogenauer Stefan
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 1.9 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC), which stipulates requirements for the bindingness of usages or practices established between the parties. Art 1.9 does not provide criteria for ascertaining the existence of such usages or practices, but rather presupposes their existence. The parties are bound by any usage to which they have agreed and by any practices which they have established between themselves. The parties are also bound by a usage that is widely known to and regularly observed in international trade by parties in the particular trade concerned except where the application of such a usage would be unreasonable. Art 1.9 also addresses burden of proof as a requirement for parties that claim that an established practice is binding.
Authors: Vogenauer Stefan
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 1.10, which deals with the effectiveness of notices provided under the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC). A notice refers to any communication of intention. By way of example, the paragraph lists declarations, demands, and requests. The notice must be ‘required’ under the PICC; that is, a provision of the instrument must attach certain legal consequences to the giving of the notice. Art 1.10 establishes a single regime for all types of notice which has two main features. In order to be effective, notices are not subject to any requirement as to form. However, they must be received by the addressee. Art 1.10 also explains the burden of proof concerning the party that relies on the effectiveness of its own notice and the party that relies on the effectiveness of the other party's notice.
Authors: Vogenauer Stefan
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 1.12 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) concerning holidays and time zones and their effect on periods of time set by the parties. Official holidays and non-business days are included in the computation of periods and have no effect on the duration of the period according to Art 1.12(1), unless the parties agree otherwise, such as by referring specifically to ‘working days’. Holidays and non-business days, however, become relevant if the last day of the period falls on such a day. The determination of the applicable time zone may be of crucial importance, in particular where international contracts are concluded across continents. The relevant time zone does not necessarily predetermine the hour format that needs to be used.
Authors: Nottage Luke
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 2.1.1, which stipulates that a contract may be concluded either by acceptance of an offer or by conduct of the parties that is sufficient to show agreement. This provision reflects the neoclassical approach of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) to contract law, maximizing the parties' freedom to negotiate until they agree to contract on certain terms, by expressly mentioning that one means of concluding a contract is by conduct of the parties that is ‘sufficient’ (that is, definite enough) to ‘show agreement’. Art 2.1.1 broke new ground among transnational contract instruments in providing expressly for contract formation to be evidenced simply through conduct sufficient to show agreement. It also stresses the burden of proof necessary in contract formation.
Authors: Nottage Luke
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 2.1.4 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) concerning the revocation of an offer. Art 2.1.4 stipulates that until a contract is concluded an offer may be revoked if the revocation reaches the offeree before it has dispatched an acceptance. However, an offer cannot be revoked if it indicates, whether by stating a fixed time for acceptance or otherwise, that it is irrevocable; or if it was reasonable for the offeree to rely on the offer as being irrevocable and the offeree has acted in reliance on the offer. Art 2.1.4 explains irrevocability indicated by the offer and irrevocability due to reasonable reliance.
Authors: Anderson Ross G
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 2.1.6 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) concerning the mode of acceptance of an offer. Art 2.1.6 stipulates that a statement made by or other conduct of the offeree indicating assent to an offer is an acceptance. Silence or inactivity does not in itself amount to acceptance. Acceptance of an offer becomes effective when the indication of assent reaches the offeror. However, if, by virtue of the offer or as a result of practices which the parties have established between themselves or of usage, the offeree may indicate assent by performing an act without notice to the offeror, the acceptance is effective when the act is performed. Art 2.1.6 explains explicit and implicit indication of assent, silence or inactivity as acceptance, effectiveness of acceptance, order of communications and labels, and burden of proof.
Authors: Anderson Ross G
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 2.1.7 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) concerning the time of acceptance of an offer. Art 2.1.7 stipulates that an offer must be accepted within the time the offeror has fixed or, if no time is fixed, within a reasonable time having regard to the circumstances, including the rapidity of the means of communication employed by the offeror. An oral offer must be accepted immediately unless the circumstances indicate otherwise. Offers are thus transitory indications of assent. Art 2.1.7 discusses the default time of acceptance with respect to oral offers and acceptance inter absentes, as well as the burden of proof concerning time of acceptance.
Authors: Anderson Ross G
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 2.1.11 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) concerning modified acceptance of an offer. Art 2.1.11 stipulates that a reply to an offer which purports to be an acceptance but contains additions, limitations or other modifications is a rejection of the offer and constitutes a counter-offer. However, a reply to an offer which purports to be an acceptance but contains additional or different terms which do not materially alter the terms of the offer constitutes an acceptance, unless the offeror, without undue delay, objects to the discrepancy. If the offeror does not object, the terms of the contract are the terms of the offer with the modifications contained in the acceptance. Art 2.1.11 also addresses the burden of proof with respect to the discrepancy between offer and acceptance.
Authors: Anderson Ross G
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 2.1.13 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) concerning the conclusion of a contract. Art 2.1.13 deals with two separate aspects of formation during pre-contractual negotiations: agreement on specific matters of content, and agreement is concluded only if the agreement is concluded in a specific form. Where in the course of negotiations one of the parties insists that the contract is not concluded until there is agreement on specific matters or in a particular form, no contract is concluded before agreement is reached on those matters or in that form. This commentary compares conditional contracts and fundamental prerequisites and concludes with a discussion of particular formalities relating to the conclusion of a contract.
Authors: Anderson Ross G
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 2.1.14 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) concerning contracts with terms deliberately left open. Art 2.1.14 permits the contract to have effect notwithstanding the fact that particular terms have been left open for future agreement. If the parties intend to conclude a contract, the fact that they intentionally leave a term to be agreed upon in further negotiations or to be determined by a third person does not prevent a contract from coming into existence. This commentary discusses present intention to be bound despite open terms, resolving disputes on open terms, and burden of proof relating to disputes over the existence of a contract despite open terms.
Authors: Zuloaga Rios Isabel
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 2.1.16 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) concerning duty of confidentiality. Art 2.1.16 deals with the disclosure of sensitive orr confidential information by one or both parties in relation to the transaction and the potential use (or misuse) that the other party can make of such information, recognizing that a duty of confidentiality may arise and that its breach will entail liability. Where appropriate, the remedy for breach of that duty may include compensation based on the benefit received by the other party. In this sense, Art 2.1.16 is consistent with other instruments for the harmonization of contract law or private law. This commentary also discusses the consequences of breaches of the duty of confidentiality and the burden of proof relating to such breach of duty.
Authors: Vogenauer Stefan
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 2.1.17 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) concerning the merger clauses of a contract. The parties to international commercial transactions often insert a merger clause (‘entire agreement’, ‘integration’, or ‘four corner clause’) in their contracts. For Art 2.1.17 to apply, the contract and the merger clause must be in writing. A contract in writing which contains a clause indicating that the writing completely embodies the terms on which the parties have agreed cannot be contradicted or supplemented by evidence of prior statements or agreements. However, such statements or agreements may be used to interpret the writing. By codifying a rule on their validity and legal effects, the PICC broke fresh ground and served as a model for later projects for the harmonization of contract law.
Authors: Vogenauer Stefan
Published: June 2017

This commentary focuses on Article 2.1.18 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) concerning contract modification in a particular form. International commercial contracts often contain a ‘no oral modification’ clause (or ‘no variation except in writing’ clause). Such clauses require that subsequent agreements to modify the terms of the contract or to terminate the contractual relationship be in a specified form, normally in writing. The purpose of ‘no oral modification’ clauses is to protect the integrity of the writing even after the contract has been concluded. Art 2.1.18 stipulates that a contract in writing which contains a clause requiring any modification or termination by agreement to be in a particular form may not be otherwise modified or terminated. This commentary discusses an exception from the strict enforcement of ‘no oral modification’ clauses.
Introduction to Arts 2.1.19–2.1.22
Authors: Naudé Tjakie
Published: June 2017

Articles 2.1.19–2.1.22 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) consider the incorporation of standard terms into a contract. The special rules on standard terms contained in Arts 2.1.20–2.1.22 recognize that parties typically treat standard terms differently to individually negotiated ones. The party that wishes to incorporate its standard terms into the contract is referred to as ‘the user of the terms’, whereas the other party that is sought to be bound by such terms is referred to as ‘the other party’. In the context of Art 2.1.20 on surprising terms, the party that has accepted the user's set of standard terms in principle is referred to as ‘the adhering party’.