The museum collects, registers, maintains, researches and handles Danish and foreign art dating from the 14th century to the present day.
Resolving chemical species at the submicrometer scale is crucial in Heritage Science, where synchrotron radiation (SR)-based X-ray methods, including µ-XRF mapping and µ-XANES spectroscopy, offer unique insights into the composition of heterogeneous and opaque materials, such as degraded inorganic pigments in paintings. However, the high intensity and brightness of SR beams pose significant risks of radiation damage, which can compromise both sample integrity and data interpretation. This challenge is notably evident in Prussian blue (a ferric hexacyanoferrate pigment), where X-ray induced photoreduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+ interferes with speciation analysis in faded artworks, necessitating rigorous experimental strategies to ensure data reliability. To address this, we present a multi-scale and multi-technique approach aimed at safely investigating the light-induced degradation of Prussian blue in oil paintings via SR-based X-ray micro-spectroscopic techniques. The study focuses on the 1802 painting Pamphilus and his Servant Davus by the Danish artist Nicolai Abildgaard (Copenhagen, 1743-Frederiksdal, 1809), which exhibits various degrees of fading in the Prussian blue-based paints, particularly evident when comparing light-exposed areas to those protected by the frame. After evaluating the paint composition and fading at the macro-scale using a set of non-invasive MOLAB techniques (namely colorimetry, reflectance UV–VIS–NIR and external reflection mode FT-IR spectroscopies), two micro-samples from light-exposed and unexposed areas were selected for SR-based µ-XRF mapping and µ-XANES spectroscopy at the Fe K-edge. In parallel, a series of Prussian blue-based oil paint mock-ups were prepared, photoaged, and analyzed in advance of historical samples to establish optimal conditions for mitigating SR X-ray induced Fe3+→Fe2+ reduction during measurements, achieved by systematically varying fluence, dose, and temperature. Under these optimized, non-damaging conditions, we successfully mapped the stratigraphic distribution of iron compounds at submicrometric resolution in the historical cross-sections. The results, unaffected by analytical artifacts, revealed the nature of the secondary products responsible for the observed fading in Abildgaard’s painting. Consequently, this research offers a validated experimental approach for future SR-based X-ray micro-spectroscopy studies of Prussian blue degradation in other artworks.
The financial technology industry and its individual segments have been investigated in this study. The task addressed relates to the insufficient development of methodological tools for quantitatively determining the role of maturity of key technologies as a factor of investment attractiveness, as well as the fragmentation of the analysis of technological drivers of investment activity in FinTech segments. The methodological basis of this study is the Gartner Hype Cycle model. The information basis is data from global rating and research agencies. The global investment dynamics for 2018–2024 were analyzed, as well as their parameters in the context of individual sectors, which made it possible to identify the main patterns of investment activity. Based on the rule-based approach, methods for determining score estimates for investment activity and for the technology maturity factor have been proposed. They make it possible to eliminate the nonlinearity critical for the use of correlation analysis, which is inherent in the Gartner model. The results of the analysis of investment activity and maturity factors of key technologies confirmed a high positive correlation (r = 0.8615) between the indicated indicators. It was determined that the main driver for increasing investment activity is the implementation of key technologies that are near the “peak of inflated expectations” in the Gartner model. It was established that at present such technologies are often associated with artificial intelligence. Thus, taking into account the stages of technology maturity allows one to better explain investor behavior and predict changes in investment activity in FinTech segments. The results also extend to other sectors of the digital economy with a high share of intangible assets, fast cycles of updating and scaling, network effects, and a global sales model
Politics in all regimes hinges on ordinary acts of obedience, yet the mechanisms that sustain it differ. This article theorizes "sustainable obedience" as obedience (i.e., rule-following and deference to collectively binding authority) that reproduces itself because the marginal costs of monitoring and sanctioning are kept low by institutional and cultural feedback. We develop a dual-channel model: a fear channel (deterrence through selective coercion and information control) and a trust channel (procedural justice, impartial enforcement, and legitimacy) that interact through path dependence and habit formation. Mixed methods combine cross-national indices (V-Dem, Freedom House, World Values Survey) with comparative discourse and document analysis (2014-2025) to trace these mechanisms in three contrasting regimes: the Netherlands (liberal democracy), Turkey (competitive authoritarianism), and Russia (closed autocracy). Findings show trust-based obedience dominates in the Netherlands and is temporarily supplemented by proportionate deterrence during crises; Turkey institutionalizes a high and persistent fear architecture, with limited compensatory appeals to performance and electoral legitimacy; Russia sustains obedience primarily through multi-layered coercion and digital control backed by ideological narratives. We derive testable propositions about substitution and complementarity between channels and show how crises can normalize exceptional measures. Normatively, democratic resilience depends on renewing the trust architecture without entrenching fear; authoritarian resilience remains cost-effective yet ultimately fragile under information shocks.
The Arctic region is an intersection of strategic competition and climate change. With the melting of glaciers in the Arctic, previously inaccessible natural resources and new sea trade routes have become accessible. Furthermore, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey, a significant portion of the world's oil and natural gas reserves are located in the Arctic. This situation has made the region not only an area of environmental vulnerability but also a strategic area. Indeed, the United States (US), particularly during Donald Trump's presidency from 2017 to 2021, has significantly increased its interest in the Arctic. During this period, environmental regulations were pushed into the background, and environmental diplomacy was weakened through policies such as withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. The main objective of this study is to examine the effects of climate change on US foreign policy in the context of the Donald Trump era and to reveal how these policies can be understood within the framework of the theory of offensive realism. Offensive realism is a theory developed by international relations theorist John Mershaimer. According to this theory, states do not merely seek to ensure their security; they are constantly engaged in the pursuit of power maximization and hegemony. In line with this, the study examined strategy documents published between 2019 and 2021 using content analysis and developed policy options for Trump's second term through scenario analysis. According to the findings of the analysis, the strategy documents are consistent with the basic assumptions of offensive realism. The study concluded that the perspective of offensive realism would be dominant during Trump's second term, that a balanced foreign policy was a limited possibility, and that a neighborhood-first policy was unlikely.
This article argues that Türkiye’s national security governance is legally fragmented across counter-terrorism, intelligence, digital surveillance and emergency regimes, producing deficits in legal certainty, accountability and rights protection. Using comparative doctrinal analysis of the United States (USA PATRIOT Act), the United Kingdom (Investigatory Powers Act 2016; National Security Act 2023) and the European Union’s fundamental-rights and data-protection standards, it develops a blueprint for a holistic National Security Law (NSL) for Türkiye. The proposed design combines a narrow and justiciable threat definition, a tiered powers architecture (ordinary times/escalating risk/state of emergency), mandatory reporting to Parliament, independent oversight, and strengthened judicial authorisation. It embeds end-to-end safeguards for surveillance and data processing, data minimisation, retention limits, audit trails, delayed notification and effective remedies, while constraining emergency powers through strict time limits, qualified-majority extensions and sunset clauses. Drawing on Foucault’s panopticism and Agamben’s “state of exception”, the article explains how vague security norms can generate chilling effects, weaken legitimacy and depress civic participation. It concludes that a rights-consistent NSL can improve security effectiveness and public trust, and address climate/disaster-related risks without securitising environmental civic space.
