Explore the vast range of titles available.

Acts 17:1-9 and 1 Thessalonians 1, which form part of the church’s normative library, are two underestimated windows regarding our ecclesiological identity and our missional presence in the world. Both deal with Paul’s effective church planting efforts in the city of Thessalonica. By immersing ourselves in these texts, which also serve as hermeneutical mirrors, we intend to participate in a mimetic learning process, in order to come to terms with the nature of Paul’s embodied proclamation of the Gospel and his missional urgency. This urgency, which was embedded in his own imitation of the suffering and joy of Christ, was also transplanted into the lives of the Thessalonians. In turn, their commitment to the Word, their steadfastness in suffering, and their openness to people from different social strata and cultures turned them into embodied examples of the Gospel right across the Greek world. Hence, the challenge to us as contemporary believers is to creatively, yet urgently, synchronise our own theological agendas, as well as our ecclesial practices and missional activities, with these normative textual mirrors and windows.

Acts 17:1-9 and 1 Thessalonians 1, which form part of the church’s normative library, are two underestimated windows regarding our ecclesiological identity and our missional presence in the world. Both deal with Paul’s effective church planting efforts in the city of Thessalonica. By immersing ourselves in these texts, which also serve as hermeneutical mirrors, we intend to participate in a mimetic learning process, in order to come to terms with the nature of Paul’s embodied proclamation of the Gospel and his missional urgency. This urgency, which was embedded in his own imitation of the suffering and joy of Christ, was also transplanted into the lives of the Thessalonians. In turn, their commitment to the Word, their steadfastness in suffering, and their openness to people from different social strata and cultures turned them into embodied examples of the Gospel right across the Greek world. Hence, the challenge to us as contemporary believers is to creatively, yet urgently, synchronise our own theological agendas, as well as our ecclesial practices and missional activities, with these normative textual mirrors and windows.

This review article focuses on the latest achievements in the creation of a class of electrotuneable optical metamaterials for switchable mirrors/windows, variable colour mirrors, optical filters, and SERS sensors, based on the voltage-controlled self-assembly of plasmonic nanoparticles at liquid/liquid or solid/liquid electrochemical interfaces. Practically, these experimental systems were navigated by physical theory, the role of which was pivotal in defining the optimal conditions for their operation, but which itself was advanced in feedback with experiments. Progress and problems in the realisation of the demonstrated effects for building the corresponding devices are discussed. To put the main topic of the review in a wider perspective, the article also discusses a few other types of electrovariable metamaterials, as well as some of those that are controlled by chemistry.

Windows and Mirrors: Interaction Design, Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency, by Pramod K. Nayar, is reviewed.

Electrochromic (EC) thin films have received considerable attention due to their potential applications in various fields such as smart windows, electrochromic displays, and energy storage devices. This review highlights various methods used for the fabrication and functionalization of EC films for various applications. Various techniques for EC thin film deposition ranging from solution-processable, low-temperature approaches such as sol-gel, spin coating, dip coating, and spray pyrolysis, to advanced techniques for deposition such as physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, and sputtering are summarized in this review. In addition, various applications of EC thin films and the outcome of different deposition approaches on the opto-electrochromic properties of EC thin films have been discussed elaborately. This review has the potential to spark the interest of researchers from a broad range of disciplines, including photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, nanotechnology and materials science.

A novel efficient and enhanced combinational window family is proposed for developing the prototype filter for a two-channel quadrature mirror filter bank, where the gradient-based optimization technique is employed to minimize the distortions in amplitude. The filter bank design issue is formulated to build a low pass prototype filter with optimum responses in passband and stopband region, with filter coefficient at quadrature frequency ( π /2) being ( 1 / 2 ) . The prototype filter is designed with the proposed combinational window function, whose frequency at cut-off is altered iteratively by a gradient-based optimization algorithm. Upon realization of convergence, the reconstruction error in the analysis filter bank is minimized. The proposed design significantly reduces peak reconstruction error with better tail-end attenuation when compared with other existing combinational windows along with reduction in computational time. The results of several design examples have been simulated, and they validate the improved and efficient design of the proposed window design over other combinational windows optimized with the computationally efficient proposed algorithm.

In this report, W 6+ doping as a defect engineering strategy has been proposed to improve the electrochromic properties of NiO film. Further research was conducted to explore the electrochromic properties and the modified mechanism of W-doped NiO film. Compared to the pure NiO, W-doped NiO film exhibits improved electrochromic properties with significant optical modulation (61.56% at 550 nm), fast switching speed (4.42 s/1.40 s for coloring/bleaching), high coloration efficiency (45.41 cm 2 ·C −1 ) and outstanding cycling stability (no significant attenuation after 2000 cycles) in Li-based electrolytes. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations combined with the experimental results indicate that the improved electrochromic properties were due to enhanced the electronic conductivity and ion conductivity after the introduction of W 6+ . The charge capacity of W-doped NiO has also been improved, and it can function with WO 3 to achieve a high performance black electrochromic smart window (ECSW) by balancing charge. This work could advance the fundamental understanding of defect engineering as an effective strategy to boost the electrochromic properties of NiO anodic material, manifesting a significant development as a candidate counter electrode in high-performance black smart windows.

Nickel-oxide-based anodic electrochromic materials are extensively utilized as counter electrodes in smart window systems due to their reversible optical response during ion insertion and extraction. This study systematically investigates the influence of substrate temperature on the electrochromic properties of sputtered nickel-tungsten oxide thin films. The deposited thin films exhibit an amorphous structure. An increase in substrate temperature results in a decrease in nickel-vacancy concentration. Raman spectroscopy verifies the amorphous nature. Films deposited at lower substrate temperatures exhibit superior electrochromic performance, characterized by improved optical contrast of 64% and rapid coloration (2.21 s) and bleaching (0.93 s) dynamics. The enhanced performance is ascribed to the disordered amorphous structure and the existence of enough nickel vacancies, which collectively facilitate efficient and reversible lithium-ion transfer. This study illustrates that meticulous regulation of substrate temperature is an effective method for adjusting the microstructure and defect chemistry of nickel–tungsten oxide thin films, rendering them appropriate as effective counter electrodes for energy-efficient smart window applications.

This paper reviews and compares electrostatically actuated MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) arrays for light modulation and light steering in which transmission through the substrate is required. A comprehensive comparison of the technical achievements of micromirror arrays and microshutter arrays is provided. The main focus of this paper is MEMS micromirror arrays for smart glass in building windows and façades. This technology utilizes millions of miniaturized and actuatable micromirrors on transparent substrates, enabling use with transmissive substrates such as smart windows for personalized daylight steering, energy saving, and heat management in buildings. For the first time, subfield-addressable MEMS micromirror arrays with an area of nearly 1 m2 are presented. The recent advancements in MEMS smart glass technology for daylight steering are discussed, focusing on aspects like the switching speed, scalability, transmission, lifetime study, and reliability of micromirror arrays. Finally, simulations demonstrating the potential yearly energy savings for investments in MEMS smart glazing are presented, including a comparison to traditional automated external blind systems in a model office room with definite user interactions throughout the year. Additionally, this platform technology with planarized MEMS elements can be used for laser safety goggles to shield pilots, tram, and bus drivers as well as security personal from laser threats, and is also presented in this paper.

Electrochromic devices enable dynamic modulation of light and heat, yet their broader adoption is hindered by limited color tunability, slow switching kinetics, and low coloration efficiency. Here, we present a complementary organic electrochromic device that addresses these challenges by employing dual conductive polymers: poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) and poly(benzodifurandione). The resulting device delivers exceptional performance, featuring a high optical contrast of 51% at 570 nm, ultrafast switching speeds (0.17/0.36 s for coloration/bleaching), a record-high coloration efficiency (1688 cm 2 C⁻ 1 at 550 nm), and excellent cycling stability over 10,000 cycles. By integrating the device with a semitransparent organic solar cell, we realize a fully self-powered smart window with reducing indoor temperatures by 7 °C. Furthermore, coupling the electrochromic filter with a 4 × 4 organic photodetector array featuring on-chip Fabry–Pérot cavities enables a miniaturized spectrometer with 7.2 nm spectral resolution. This multifunctional electrochromic platform seamlessly bridges smart-window technology and spectral sensing, paving the way for energy-efficient, and compact optoelectronic systems. Electrochromic devices offer dynamic modulation of light and heat but suffer from limited color tunability, sluggish switching speeds, and low coloration efficiency, especially in inorganic electrochromic materials, which impede their widespread adoption. Here, the authors show a complementary organic electrochromic device that employs dual conductive polymers and overcomes these limitations.