Autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs) operating in mountainous and off-road environments need to perform complex local navigation while simultaneously handling severe terrain undulation, intricate obstacle distributions, and task-driven observation requirements. Traditional navigation architectures often rely on decoupled planning and control modules, which makes it difficult to rigorously coordinate nominal guidance with terrain related safety and kinematic constraints. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a unified terrain-aware local navigation framework based on dynamical system modulation and control barrier functions (DSM-CBF), where traversal safety, operational agility, and observation quality are jointly considered. A DSM-based nominal guider is developed to generate continuous and smooth motion commands with natural obstacle avoidance behavior by reshaping the local vector field through anisotropic modulation. The resulting nominal control is then refined by a CBF-based safety filter formulated as a slack-variable-augmented hard quadratic program, so that forward invariance of the safety set can be guaranteed under obstacle clearance, terrain traversability, and speed constraints. Task-related observation metrics, including bistatic geometry as well as range and azimuth resolutions, are further incorporated into the optimization objective to preserve favorable sensing quality during bounded-speed terrain-following motion. Comprehensive simulations and real-vehicle experiments verify the effectiveness and practical executability of the proposed framework. The simulation results show that it satisfies the radial-resolution requirement with an achieved value of approximately 1.01 m relative to the 1.13 m design threshold and improves mission efficiency by about 27% under the observation-quality-prioritized setting; compared with the SOTA methods, the proposed method achieves zero terminal error, maintains an admissible obstacle-clearance margin with minΓobs=1.0439, reduces the turn-RMS by 86.1% and 83.6% relative to A* and D* Lite, respectively, and reduces the computational runtime by 97.9% compared with MPC-CBF, while real-vehicle tests further demonstrate safe and smooth traversal on a physical rugged-terrain AGV platform.
Abstract Many large igneous provinces (LIPs) comprise once contiguous magmatic products that are now fragmented across multiple tectonic plates. Emplacement of these voluminous magmatic products is commonly coeval with, or shortly followed by, fragmentation into constituent domains. However, the Kerguelen LIP, predominantly within the southern Indian Ocean, rifted after an unusually protracted c. 45 Myr interval post‐emplacement. To investigate this protracted post‐emplacement rifting, a recent voyage by the RV Investigator sampled the conjugate margins of the Kerguelen Plateau, William's Ridge (WR) and Broken Ridge (BR) for the first time. Dredged volcanic rocks were characterized using petrographic, geochemical (major and trace element, Sr‐Nd‐Pb‐Hf isotopes) and geochronological (40Ar/39Ar) techniques. Here, we focus on the sampled 82–67 Ma tholeiitic volcanic rocks. The observed geochemical data in conjunction with rare earth element inversion modeling of these Late Cretaceous volcanic rocks reflect plume–ridge interaction with variable assimilation (≤10%) of continental crust. We propose that the Kerguelen plume transported melt to the WR–BR margin during episodes of extension. Extension and magmatism were localized along the rheologically weak margins of the WR microcontinent. The combination of these mechanically weak boundaries and earlier extensional events facilitated a final ridge jump into the WR–BR margin at c. 44 Ma. We demonstrate a pre‐existing history of extension in the Late Cretaceous prior to complete fragmentation in the Eocene, resolving the apparent protracted interval between emplacement and separation of the Kerguelen LIP.
Ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism, recording extreme crustal thermal regimes, provides pivotal insights into the evolution of ancient orogens. Terranes with UHT metamorphism distributed within the continental fragments of the former Gondwana megacontinent hold critical clues to the processes and dynamics associated with Gondwana's assembly and evolution. The Kuunga Orogen documents the collision between northern and southern Gondwana, marking the final assembly of the Gondwana megacontinent. However, the evolution of this orogen, especially its eastern section, which is largely covered by the Antarctic ice cap, remains poorly constrained. Based on integrated petrological, phase equilibrium modeling, and petrochronological analyses, we report UHT metamorphism in spinel-bearing pelitic granulites from the glacial moraines in the Grove Mountains, East Antarctica. Phase equilibrium modeling and mineral thermometry reveal peak temperature conditions of >= 900 degrees C and similar to 0.7 GPa for pelitic granulites characterized by the assemblage garnet + spinel + K-feldspar + plagioclase + ilmenite +/- sillimanite +/- rutile +/- biotite + melt, with a subsequent near-isobaric cooling path to similar to 800 degrees C. Petrochronological analyses of multiple dateable phases were conducted to constrain the timing of the UHT metamorphism. Zircon and monazite U-Pb dating constrain peak UHT metamorphism to predate similar to 535 Ma, with cooling to the solidus by similar to 520 Ma. Biotite/K-feldspar Rb-Sr isochron ages of similar to 456-440 Ma are interpreted to represent the post-peak cooling stage at similar to 300-400 degrees C. Combined with existing regional data, our new results define a two-stage cooling history: an initial rapid cooling at similar to 18 degrees C/Myr from similar to 535 to 500 Ma, followed by a significantly slower stage at <3 degrees C/Myr from similar to 500 to 440 Ma. The UHT metamorphism recorded in the moraine samples indicates that extreme thermal perturbations may have facilitated crustal evolution and maturation of the subglacial orogen in East Antarctica. These findings shed new light on the geodynamic evolution of the eastern Kuunga Orogen and the assembly history of Gondwana.
Polarisation in covalent organic framework (COF) catalysts has emerged as an effective strategy to reduce strong excitonic binding and to improve charge transport through built-in electric fields. Unlike conventional inorganic ferroelectrics or polar materials, COFs enable programmable polarisation through molecular and lattice design, allowing internal fields to be tuned in strength and direction. In this review, we provide a comprehensive analysis of polarisation in COFs, from its physical origins to its functional roles in catalysis. We first examine the multiscale origins of polarisation in COFs, encompassing bond-level electronic asymmetry, conjugation-mediated propagation, and framework-level structural organisation that governs dipole alignment and cancellation. We then summarise how polarisation is characterised experimentally and theoretically across different electronic and catalytic states, including ground-state electrostatic potential landscapes, photoexcited-state charge dynamics, and polarisation effects at solid-liquid catalytic interfaces. Finally, through representative photocatalytic and electrocatalytic case studies, we illustrate how deliberate polarisation engineering reshapes charge separation, transport, and reaction pathways across diverse catalytic reactions, and conclude by discussing the key opportunities and challenges for translating polarisation into a predictive design principle for COFs. By connecting the origins, characterisations, regulating strategies, and catalytic mechanisms, this review provides a more integrated perspective on polarisation phenomena in next-generation COF catalysts.
PurposeThis study aims to investigate how a firm's focus on low-end/ new-market customers, which the authors refer to as disruptive intent (DI), affects shareholder value and how marketing capabilities moderate this relationship.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the theories of disruptive innovation and market-based assets (MBAs), the authors argue that the relationship between a firm's DI and shareholder value is contingent upon whether the firm possesses the complementary capabilities to build and leverage MBAs. The study uses a unique panel data set (n = 1,316) consisting of 137 US retailers between 2004 and 2018, created using text mining techniques to measure firms' DI from annual reports, to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe findings suggest that, by itself, disruptive intent neither enhances firm value nor increases firm risk. However, firms with high disruptive intent improve firm value when they also possess high MBA-building and MBA-leveraging capabilities. Furthermore, while disruptive intent's interaction with MBA-leveraging capability does not affect firm risk, its interaction with MBA-building capability increases firm risk.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors contribute to the literature on disruptive innovation and marketing-finance interface by (1) providing a framework to understand the nuances of how DI affects shareholder value in terms of both returns and firm risk; (2) developing the link between firm capabilities and performance of disruptive firms, which is "strikingly absent" in the literature on disruptive innovations, and (3) extending the knowledge on MBA-building and MBA-leveraging capabilities by studying their moderating role in the relationship between an important strategic orientation (i.e. DI) and shareholder value.Practical implicationsFindings from the present study can help managers make informed decisions on how to re-align marketing activities and investments when focusing on low-end/new-market customers.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to empirically test the relationship between retailers' DI and shareholder value.
