Heat capacity jump at T_c and pressure derivatives of superconducting transition temperature in the Ba(1-x)NaxFe2As2 (0.1 <= x <= 0.9) series

We present the evolution of the initial (up to ~ 10 kbar) hydrostatic, pressure dependencies of T_c and of the ambient pressure jump in the heat capacity associated with the superconducting transition as a function of Na - doping in the Ba(1-x)NaxFe2As2 family of iron-based superconductors. For Na concentrations 0.15 <= x <= 0.9, the jump in specific heat at T_c, Delta C_p, follows the Delta C_p ~ T^3 scaling found for most BaFe2As2 - based superconductors. Pressure dependencies are non-monotonic for x = 0.2 and x = 0.24. For other Na concentrations T_c decreases under pressure in almost linear fashion. The anomalous behavior of the x = 0.2 and x = 0.24 samples under pressure are possibly due to the crossing of the phase boundaries of the narrow antiferromagnetic tetragonal phase, unique for the Ba(1-x)NaxFe2As2 series, with the application of pressure

A note on the time evolution of the fission decay width under the influence of dissipation

The claim put forward in a recent paper by B. Jurado, K.-H. Schmidt and J. Benlliure that the transient effect of nuclear fission may be described simply as a relaxation process in the upright oscillator around the potential minimum is refuted. Some critical remarks on the relevance of this effect in general are added.Comment: 6 pages, LaTex, no figures; final, shorter version, to appear in PL

Plastic films for polytunnels can prolong the effective residual life of cypermethrin to over 6 months

Synthetic pyrethroid insecticides are degraded almost entirely by ultraviolet (UV)-catalysed oxidation. A bioassay using the beetle Tribolium confusum duVal caged on bandages soaked in 0.04% a.i. cypermethrin showed large differences in residual insecticide-life under three plastic films available for cladding polytunnels. Cypermethrin exposed to a UV film that transmitted 70% of UVB and 80% of UVA killed all beetles for 8 weeks, compared to only 3 weeks for cypermethrin exposed in a clear plastic envelope. Cypermethrin under a UV-absorbing film that reduced the transmission of UVB and UVA to 14% and 50%, respectively, gave a complete kill for 17 weeks. Reducing the transmission of UVB to virtually zero, and that of UVA to only 3%, using a UV-opaque film prolonged the effective life of the cypermethrin residue to 26 weeks, and some beetles were still killed for a further 11 weeks. Even after this time, beetles exposed to cypermethrin from the UV-opaque treatment were still affected by the insecticide, and only showed near-normal mobility after 24 months of pesticide exposure to the UV-opaque film. These results have implications for the recommended intervals between cypermethrin treatment and crop harvest, and on the time of introduction of insect-based biological control agents, when UV-opaque films are used in commercial horticulture

In-situ laser-induced contamination monitoring using long-distance microscopy

Operating high power space-based laser systems in the visible and UV range is problematic due to laser-induced contamination (LIC). In this paper LIC growth on high-reflective (HR) coated optics is investigated for UV irradiation of 355 nm with naphthalene as contamination material in the range of 10-5 mbar. The investigated HR optics were coated by different processes: electron beam deposition (EBD), magnetron sputtering (MS) or ion beam sputtering (IBS). In-situ observation of contamination induced damage was performed using a long distance microscope. Additionally the onset and evolution of deposit formation and contamination induced damage of optical samples was observed by in-situ laser-induced fluorescence and reflection monitoring. Ex-situ characterization of deposits and damage morphology was performed by differential interference contrast and fluorescence microscopy. It was found that contamination induced a drastic reduction of laser damage threshold compared to values obtained without contamination. Contamination deposit and damage formation was strongest on IBS followed by MS and smallest on EBD

Agricultural Structure and the Rise of the Nazi Party reconsidered

There is widespread agreement within academic literature that the NSDAP systematically and effectively targeted the rural areas beginning with the agrarian crisis in 1927/8. However, one issue is left unresolved: were specific levels of agricultural strata differently attracted to the Nazis, and if so, how? In light of the economic and political incentives offered to German peasants with differing farm sizes, we expect that regions characterized by middle peasants were most likely to have electorally swung in a distinct, asymmetric and relevant way towards the Nazis. In order to test this hypothesis, we have used a country-wide data set, which includes the original categories of ‘parcel peasants’ (0-2 hectare), ‘small-sized’ (2-5 hectare) and ‘medium-sized’ farmers (5-20 hectare). These specific classifications were introduced and behaviorally legitimated by the Statistical Office of the Weimar Republic at that time. We present the first analysis applying generalised additive models (GAM) for the assessment of ecological relations. In order to account for the construction of political spaces – and therefore of spatial dependencies, we offer a new mechanism based on stipulations of the electoral system. Even after controlling for pre-established impact factors (protestantism, urbanization, etc.) and for spatial effects, we identify a clear impact of the agrarian middle classes (5-20 hectare) on the Nazi vote beginning with the election in July 1932

Generating Dialogues for Virtual Agents Using Nested Textual Coherence Relations

This paper describes recent advances on the Text2Dialogue system we are currently developing. Our system enables automatic transformation of monological text into a dialogue. The dialogue is then 'acted out' by virtual agents, using synthetic speech and gestures. In this paper, we focus on the monologue-to-dialogue transformation, and describe how it uses textual coherence relations to map text segments to query–answer pairs between an expert and a layman agent. By creating mapping rules for a few well-selected relations, we can produce coherent dialogues with proper assignment of turns for the speakers in a majority of cases