Switching modalities in a sentence verification task: ERP evidence for embodied language processing

In an event related potential (ERP) experiment using written language materials only, we investigated a potential modulation of the N400 by the modality switch effect. The modality switch effect occurs when a first sentence, describing a fact grounded in one modality, is followed by a second sentence describing a second fact grounded in a different modality. For example, "A cellar is dark" (visual), was preceded by either another visual property "Ham is pink" or by a tactile property "A mitten is soft." We also investigated whether the modality switch effect occurs for false sentences ("A cellar is light"). We found that, for true sentences, the ERP at the critical word "dark" elicited a significantly greater frontal, early N400-like effect (270370 ms) when there was a modality mismatch than when there was a modality-match. This pattern was not found for the critical word "light" in false sentences. Results similar to the frontal negativity were obtained in a late time window (500700 ms). The obtained ERP effect is similar to one previously obtained for pictures. We conclude that in this paradigm we obtained fast access to conceptual properties for modality-matched pairs, which leads to embodiment effects similar to those previously obtained with pictorial stimuli

Alien Registration- Lea, Fergus P. (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/26715/thumbnail.jp

Transfer of ultra-low phase noise microwave references over the JANET Aurora fibre network using a femtosecond optical frequency comb

An ultra-low phase noise microwave frequency is transferred over 82 km of installed fibre by propagation of a 30 nm bandwidth optical frequency comb (104 modes). The phase noise induced along the fibre by vibrations and thermal effects is suppressed by implementing a noise cancellation scheme where a portion of the light is sent back to the transmitter through the same fibre. The 6th harmonic of the repetition rate detected before and after the pulse train has travelled a round trip are phase compared and used to generate an error signal that controls a fibre stretcher to compensate for the fibre-induced phase fluctuations. Optical amplifiers are used to compensate for the fibre attenuation and dispersion compensation modules are also employed

Application of photon Doppler velocimetry to direct impact Hopkinson pressure bars.

Direct impact Hopkinson pressure bar systems offer many potential advantages over split Hopkinson pressure bars, including access to higher strain rates, higher strains for equivalent striker velocity and system length, lower dispersion, and faster achievement of force equilibrium. Currently, these advantages are gained at the expense of all information about the striker impacted specimen face, preventing the experimental determination of force equilibrium, and requiring approximations to be made on the sample deformation history. In this paper, we discuss an experimental method and complementary data analysis for using photon Doppler velocimetry to measure surface velocities of the striker and output bars in a direct impact bar experiment, allowing similar data to be recorded as in a split bar system. We discuss extracting velocity and force measurements, and the precision of measurements. Results obtained using the technique are compared to equivalent split bar tests, showing improved stress measurements for the lowest and highest strains in fully dense metals, and improvement for all strains in slow and non-equilibrating materials.This research was supported by grants from QinetiQ and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from AIP Publishing via http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.494093

Overwintering Habitat of American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, Observed in an Arctic Groundwater Spring Feeding on Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma

Perennial groundwater springs along the Alaska and Yukon North Slope provide overwintering habitat for various organisms, including birds and fishes. We observed an American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, in the open water of a perennial spring situated in Fish Creek, Yukon, in Ivvavik National Park on 8 March 2018. The observation at Fish Creek was among the most northern documented sightings of an American Dipper during the winter in North America. Moreover, the observation was approximately 650 km farther north than where American Dippers have been documented overwintering in Yukon, making this the most northern Canadian observation documented for this species in any season. Additionally, the American Dipper was photographed feeding on a juvenile Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma. Although American Dippers are known to feed on small fish, our observation was a novel documentation of a trophic interaction between both species during winter. The open-water habitat in Fish Creek, which is important for both species and has not been previously described, was short (~730 m long), shallow (mean = 20 cm deep), narrow (mean = 2.8 m wide), and cold (mean water temperature = 0.34ºC). While there is little information regarding the ecological interactions of American Dipper overwintering in the Arctic, we note that all observations in the North Slope area during winter occurred in river systems also used by Dolly Varden, which indicates that juvenile Dolly Varden could be an important source of food for American Dipper in winter.Les sources d’eau souterraine pérennes le long du versant nord de l’Alaska et du Yukon procurent un habitat d’hivernage à divers organismes, y compris les oiseaux et les poissons. Le 8 mars 2018, nous avons observé un cincle d’Amérique (Cinclus mexicanus) dans l’eau libre d’une source pérenne située au ruisseau Fish, dans le parc national Ivvavik, au Yukon. L’observation faite au ruisseau Fish figurait parmi les observations hivernales les plus nordiques du cincle d’Amérique à avoir été répertoriées en Amérique du Nord. Cette observation a été faite à environ 650 km plus au nord que l’endroit où l’habitat d’hivernage des cincles d’Amérique a été documenté au Yukon, ce qui représente l’observation la plus nordique au Canada à avoir été consignée pour cette espèce à n’importe quelle saison. Par surcroît, le cincle d’Amérique a été photographié en train de se nourrir d’un omble malma juvénile (Salvelinus malma). Bien que l’on sache que les cincles d’Amérique se nourrissent de petits poissons, l’observation que nous avons documentée constituait un nouveau cas d’interaction trophique entre les deux espèces pendant l’hiver. L’habitat en eau libre du ruisseau Fish, qui est important pour les deux espèces et n’a pas encore été décrit, était court (environ 730 m de long), peu profond (moyenne de 20 cm de profondeur), étroit (moyenne de 2,8 m de largeur) et froid (moyenne de la température de l’eau = 0,34 ºC). Bien qu’il existe peu d’information sur les interactions écologiques du cincle d’Amérique hivernant dans l’Arctique, notons qu’en hiver, toutes les observations faites dans la région du versant nord ont eu lieu dans des réseaux hydrographiques où vit également l’omble malma, ce qui laisse croire que l’omble malma juvénile pourrait représenter une source de nourriture importante pour le cincle d’Amérique en hiver

Magneto-shear modes and a.c. dissipation in a two-dimensional Wigner crystal

The a.c. response of an unpinned and finite 2D Wigner crystal to electric fields at an angular frequency $\omega$ has been calculated in the dissipative limit, $\omega \tau \ll 1$, where $\tau ^{-1}$ is the scattering rate. For electrons screened by parallel electrodes, in zero magnetic field the long-wavelength excitations are a diffusive longitudinal transmission line mode and a diffusive shear mode. A magnetic field couples these modes together to form two new magneto-shear modes. The dimensionless coupling parameter $\beta =2(c_{t}/c_{l})|\sigma_{xy}/\sigma_{xx}|$ where $c_{t}$ and $c_{l}$ are the speeds of transverse and longitudinal sound in the collisionless limit and $\sigma_{xy}$ and $\sigma_{xx}$ are the tensor components of the magnetoconductivity. For $\beta \geqslant 1$, both the coupled modes contribute to the response of 2D electrons in a Corbino disk measurement of magnetoconductivity. For $\beta \gg 1$, the electron crystal rotates rigidly in a magnetic field. In general, both the amplitude and phase of the measured a.c. currents are changed by the shear modulus. In principle, both the magnetoconductivity and the shear modulus can be measured simultaneously.Comment: REVTeX, 7 pp., 4 eps figure

Trapping electrons in electrostatic traps over the surface of helium

We have observed trapping of electrons in an electrostatic trap formed over the surface of liquid helium-4. These electrons are detected by a Single Electron Transistor located at the centre of the trap. We can trap any desired number of electrons between 1 and $\sim 30$. By repeatedly ($\sim 10^3-10^4$ times) putting a single electron into the trap and lowering the electrostatic barrier of the trap, we can measure the effective temperature of the electron and the time of its thermalisation after heating up by incoherent radiation.Comment: Presented at QFS06 - Kyoto, to be published in J. Low Temp. Phys., 6 pages, 3 figure