Search for Barents: Evaluation of Possible Burial Sites on North Novaya Zemlya, Russia

ABSTRACT. Three cairns on northernmost Novaya Zemlya identified as possible rock-pile graves by Russian investigators in 1977 and 1988 were located and inspected for human remains. These cairns are in the area visited by Dutch seafarers between 17 and 22 June 1597, after their wintering on Novaya Zemlya, and may contain the body of Willem Barents. Barents and one of his crewmen died on 20 June 1597 while the winterers were on landfast ice close to shore. Previous research on Spitsbergen and contemporary reports on the efforts of 16th and 17th century Dutch seafarers to prepare a Christian grave led us to conclude that the deceased probably were buried on the beach, possibly in a shallow grave or a snowbank. Inspection of the area indicates that this grave probably was destroyed by high (5+ m asl) wave run-up during storms, cryogenic erosion, and animals (polar bear, fox). None of the cairns, or any of several other prominent rock piles in the ~180 km long search area, contained human remains or had lichen growths that would indicate construction ~400 years ago (> 2 cm, Rhizocarpon sp.). Cairns were not reported by the Dutch in 1594 –98, and most of those encountered on northern Novaya Zemlya probably date from explorations after ca. 1860, when the region north of ~76˚N became accessible in a warming, post-Little Ice Age climate

Local determination of the amount of integration of an atom into a crystal surface

Collective vibrational modes of crystal lattices, called phonons, determine fundamental material properties, such as their thermal and electrical conductivities. Bulk phonon spectra are influenced by point defects. More recently, the importance of phonons on nanostructures has come into the focus of attention. Here we show a spatially resolved phonon spectra of point defects that reveal distinctly different signatures for a cavity alone and an impurity atom fully integrated into the surface as opposed to one placed into a cavity. The spectra are indicative for delocalized phonons and localized vibrations, respectively, as confirmed by theory

A functional-cognitive framework for attitude research

In attitude research, behaviours are often used as proxies for attitudes and attitudinal processes. This practice is problematic because it conflates the behaviours that need to be explained (explanandum) with the mental constructs that are used to explain these behaviours (explanans). In the current chapter we propose a meta-theoretical framework that resolves this problem by distinguishing between two levels of analysis. According to the proposed framework, attitude research can be conceptualised as the scientific study of evaluation. Evaluation is defined not in terms of mental constructs but in terms of elements in the environment, more specifically, as the effect of stimuli on evaluative responses. From this perspective, attitude research provides answers to two questions: (1) Which elements in the environment moderate evaluation? (2) What mental processes and representations mediate evaluation? Research on the first question provides explanations of evaluative responses in terms of elements in the environment (functional level of analysis); research on the second question offers explanations of evaluation in terms of mental processes and representations (cognitive level of analysis). These two levels of analysis are mutually supportive, in that better explanations at one level lead to better explanations at the other level. However, their mutually supportive relation requires a clear distinction between the concepts of their explanans and explanandum, which are conflated if behaviours are treated as proxies for mental constructs. The value of this functional-cognitive framework is illustrated by applying it to four central questions of attitude research

Reduced order models for control of fluids using the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm

In feedback flow control, one of the challenges is to develop mathematical models that describe the fluid physics relevant to the task at hand, while neglecting irrelevant details of the flow in order to remain computationally tractable. A number of techniques are presently used to develop such reduced-order models, such as proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), and approximate snapshot-based balanced truncation, also known as balanced POD. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses: for instance, POD models can behave unpredictably and perform poorly, but they can be computed directly from experimental data; approximate balanced truncation often produces vastly superior models to POD, but requires data from adjoint simulations, and thus cannot be applied to experimental data. In this paper, we show that using the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm (ERA) \citep{JuPa-85}, one can theoretically obtain exactly the same reduced order models as by balanced POD. Moreover, the models can be obtained directly from experimental data, without the use of adjoint information. The algorithm can also substantially improve computational efficiency when forming reduced-order models from simulation data. If adjoint information is available, then balanced POD has some advantages over ERA: for instance, it produces modes that are useful for multiple purposes, and the method has been generalized to unstable systems. We also present a modified ERA procedure that produces modes without adjoint information, but for this procedure, the resulting models are not balanced, and do not perform as well in examples. We present a detailed comparison of the methods, and illustrate them on an example of the flow past an inclined flat plate at a low Reynolds number.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

X-Ray Microscopy of Spin Wave Focusing using a Fresnel Zone Plate

Magnonics, i.e. the artificial manipulation of spin waves, is a flourishing field of research with many potential uses in data processing within reach. Apart from the technological applications the possibility to directly influence and observe these types of waves is of great interest for fundamental research. Guidance and steering of spin waves has been previously shown and lateral spin wave confinement has been achieved. However, true spin wave focusing with both lateral confinement and increase in amplitude has not been shown before. Here, we show for the first time spin wave focusing by realizing a Fresnel zone plate type lens. Using x-ray microscopy we are able to directly image the propagation of spin waves into the nanometer sized focal spot. Furthermore, we observe that the focal spot can be freely moved in a large area by small variations of the bias field. Thus, this type of lens provides a steerable intense nanometer sized spin wave source. Potentially, this could be used to selectively illuminate magnonic devices like nano oscillators with a steerable spin wave beam

The 2010 nova outburst of the symbiotic Mira V407 Cyg

The nova outburst experienced in 2010 by the symbiotic binary Mira V407 Cyg has been extensively studied at optical and infrared wavelengths with both photometric and spectroscopic observations. This outburst, reminiscent of similar events displayed by RS Oph, can be described as a very fast He/N nova erupting while being deeply embedded in the dense wind of its cool giant companion. The hard radiation from the initial thermonuclear flash ionizes and excites the wind of the Mira over great distances (recombination is observed on a time scale of 4 days). The nova ejecta is found to progressively decelerate with time as it expands into the Mira wind. This is deduced from line widths which change from a FWHM of 2760 km/s on day +2.3 to 200 km/s on day +196. The wind of the Mira is massive and extended enough for an outer neutral and unperturbed region to survive at all outburst phases.Comment: MNRAS Letter, in pres