Thin Metal Film Sensors

During the last decade some progress have been made in the field of sensors using thin film techniques. In particular thin metal film strain gauges and thin film temperature sensors based on the temperature dependent resistivity of metal are now commonly used. But changes in other transport parameters with various measurands are also useful for the design of metal film sensors. Difficulty arises in thin film techniques when structural defects are frozen in films

High-order discrete ordinate transport in hexagonal geometry: A new capability in ERANOS

This paper presents the implementation of an arbitrary order discontinuous Galerkin scheme within the framework of a discrete ordinate solver of the neutron transport equation for nuclear reactor calculations. More precisely, it deals with non-conforming spatial meshes for the 2D and 3D modeling of core geometries based on hexagonal assemblies. This work aims at improving the capabilities of the ERANOS code system dedicated to fast reactor analysis and design. Both the angular quadrature and spatial scheme peculiarities for hexagonal geometries are presented. A particular focus is set on the spatial non-conforming mesh and variable order capabilities of this scheme in anticipation to the development of spatial adaptiveness algorithms. These features are illustrated on a 3D numerical benchmark with comparison to a Monte Carlo reference and a 2D benchmark that shows the potential of this scheme for both h- and p-adaptation

Hydrological impacts of climate change on the Tejo and Guadiana Rivers

International audienceA distributed daily rainfall?runoff model is applied to the Tejo and Guadiana river basins in Spain and Portugal to simulate the effects of climate change on runoff production, river flows and water resource availability with results aggregated to the monthly level. The model is calibrated, validated and then used for a series of climate change impact assessments for the period 2070?2100. Future scenarios are derived from the HadRM3H regional climate model (RCM) using two techniques: firstly a bias-corrected RCM output, with monthly mean correction factors calculated from observed rainfall records; and, secondly, a circulation-pattern-based stochastic rainfall model. Major reductions in rainfall and streamflow are projected throughout the year; these results differ from those for previous studies where winter increases are projected. Despite uncertainties in the representation of heavily managed river systems, the projected impacts are serious and pose major threats to the maintenance of bipartite water treaties between Spain and Portugal and the supply of water to urban and rural regions of Portugal

Anisotropic Chemical Etching of III—V Crystals Dissolution Slowness Surface and Application to GaAs

The analytical equation for the dissolution slowness surface of III–V crystals that belong to point group 4¯3 m is derived using a tensorial analysis of the anisotropic chemical dissolution. The role played by orientation functions in the generation of the dissolution slowness extrema is discussed. Four different databases composed of dissolution constants are proposed. The final shape of cross-sectional dissolution profiles etched in differently oriented GaAs surfaces is analyzed and compared with published experimental results. Finally etching shapes of micromachined membranes and mesa are derived showing that the anisotropy for the GaAs crystal is probably of type 2 rather than of type 1

Temperature Dependence of the Intrinsic Anomalous Hall Effect in Nickel

We investigate the unusual temperature dependence of the anomalous Hall effect in Ni. By varying the thickness of the MBE-grown Ni films, the longitudinal resistivity is uniquely tuned without resorting to doping impurities; consequently, the intrinsic and extrinsic contributions are cleanly separated out. In stark contrast to other ferromagnets such as Fe, the intrinsic contribution in Ni is found to be strongly temperature dependent with a value of 1100 (ohm*cm)^(-1) at low temperatures and 500 (ohm*cm)^(-1) at high temperatures. This pronounced temperature dependence, a cause of long-standing confusion concerning the physical origin of the AHE, is likely due to the small energy level splitting caused by the spin orbit coupling close to the Fermi surface. Our result helps pave the way for the general claim of the Berry-phase interpretation for the AHE.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

A new method to quantify and compare the multiple components of fitness-A study case with kelp niche partition by divergent microstage adaptations to Temperature

Point 1 Management of crops, commercialized or protected species, plagues or life-cycle evolution are subjects requiring comparisons among different demographic strategies. The simpler methods fail in relating changes in vital rates with changes in population viability whereas more complex methods lack accuracy by neglecting interactions among vital rates. Point 2 The difference between the fitness (evaluated by the population growth rate.) of two alternative demographies is decomposed into the contributions of the differences between the pair-wised vital rates and their interactions. This is achieved through a full Taylor expansion (i.e. remainder = 0) of the demographic model. The significance of each term is determined by permutation tests under the null hypothesis that all demographies come from the same pool. Point 3 An example is given with periodic demographic matrices of the microscopic haploid phase of two kelp cryptic species observed to partition their niche occupation along the Chilean coast. The method provided clear and synthetic results showing conditional differentiation of reproduction is an important driver for their differences in fitness along the latitudinal temperature gradient. But it also demonstrated that interactions among vital rates cannot be neglected as they compose a significant part of the differences between demographies. Point 4 This method allows researchers to access the effects of multiple effective changes in a life-cycle from only two experiments. Evolutionists can determine with confidence the effective causes for changes in fitness whereas population managers can determine best strategies from simpler experimental designs.CONICYT-FRENCH EMBASSADY Ph.D. gran

Investigating distribution of practice effects for the learning of foreign language verb morphology in the young learner classroom

Within limited-input language classrooms, understanding the effect of distribution of practice (spacing between practice) on learning is critical, yet evidence is conflicting and of limited relevance for young learners. For second language (L2) grammar learning, some studies reveal advantages for spacing of 7 days or more (Bird, 2010; Rogers, 2015), but others for shorter spacing (Suzuki, 2017). Further, little is known about the role of cognitive individual differences (e.g., language analytic ability) in mediating practice distribution effects for L2 grammatical knowledge development and retention (Suzuki & DeKeyser, 2017). To address this gap, this classroom-based study investigated whether distribution of practice and language analytic ability moderated the effectiveness of explicit, input-based grammar instruction for young first language (L1) English learners of French (aged 8 to 11). The study revealed minimal differences between longer (7-day) versus shorter (3.5-day) spacing of practice for learning an L2 French verb inflection subsystem, at either post- or delayed post-test. Minimal group-level gains and substantial within-group variation in performance at post-tests was observed. Accuracy of practice during training and language analytic ability were significantly associated with post-test performance under both practice schedules. These findings indicated that within an ecologically valid classroom context, differences in distribution of practice had limited impact on learner performance on our tests; rather, individual learner differences were more critical in moderating learning. This highlights the importance of considering individual learner differences in the development of resources and the potential of digital tools for dynamically adapting instruction to suit individuals