477 research outputs found

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    British Attitudes to the French Revolution

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    The study of British attitudes to the French Revolution continues to attract substantial scholarly attention. In recent years, this has resulted not only in the excavation of a substantial volume of new detail, but also in increasing attention being paid to the political experiences of members of the middling and lower orders during the revolutionary and Napoleonic decades. While historians have been interested in radicals and reformers from these social strata since the publication of E.P. Thompson’s The Making of the English Working Class in 1963, it is only more recently that their loyalist and less partisan counterparts have been examined by scholars to the same extent. This article begins by summarizing the recent publication of large collections of primary sources and of major biographies in this area. It then discusses recent historiographical advances and debates in the following areas: the British debate over the French Revolution; the political participation of members of the middle and working classes in patriotic and loyalist activities; the culture of popular politics; and the question of national identity

    Ammonia plasma passivation of GaAs in downstream microwave and radio-frequency parallel plate plasma reactors

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    The poor electronic properties of the GaAs surface and GaAs–insulator interfaces, generally resulting from large density of surface/interface states, have limited GaAs device technology. Room-temperature ammonia plasma (dry) passivation of GaAs surfaces, which reduces the surface state density, is investigated as an alternative to wet passivation techniques. Plasma passivation is more compatible with clustered-dry processing which provides better control of the processing environment, and thus, improves interface integrity. Passivation was monitored in real-time and in situ using photoluminescence (PL). In addition, the passivated surfaces are inspected using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Passivation with two different plasma excitation methods, downstream microwave (2.45 GHz) and rf (13.56 MHz) parallel plate, are compared, and effects of operating parameters such as pressure, flow rate, and power are examined. In both methods plasma-generated H atoms reduce the surface state density by removing excess As and As2O3 during the first few seconds of the plasma exposure. This step is followed by formation of Ga2O3 which takes place on a longer time scale (5–10 min). While the final passivation result appears to be similar for both methods, surface damage by ion bombardment competes with passivation in the parallel plate method, reduces the PL yield and adversely affects the long term stability of the passivated surface. Although it is common to heat the sample during passivation, we show that NH3 plasma passivation is possible at room temperature without heating. Low-temperature processing is important since passivation can be done at the end of device processing when it is undesirable to expose the device to elevated temperatures. The absence of ion bombardment damage combined with efficient generation of H atoms in the downstream microwave treatment, make this scheme a preferred dry passivation process, which could be easily and inexpensively clustered with existing GaAs processes

    Final Report Spacially-Resolved Diagnostics and Modeling of Micro-Discharges

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    Optical emission spectroscopy measurements were performed with added trace probe gases in an atmospheric pressure direct current (DC) helium microplasma. Spatially resolved measurements (resolution {approx} 6 {micro}m) were taken across a 200 {micro}m slot-type discharge. Stark splitting of the hydrogen Balmer-line was used to investigate the electric field distribution in the cathode sheath region. Electron densities were evaluated from the analysis of the spectral line broadenings of H-{beta} emission. The electron density in the bulk plasma was in the range 3-8 x 1013 cm-3. The electric field peaked at the cathode ({approx}60 kV/cm) and decayed to small values over a distance of {approx} 50 {micro}m (sheath edge) from the cathode. These experimental data were in good agreement with a self-consistent one-dimensional model of the discharge. The dependence of gas temperature on gas flow through the slot-type, atmospheric pressure microplasma in helium or argon was investigated by a combination of experiments and modeling. Spatially-resolved gas temperature profiles across the gap between the two electrodes were obtained from rotational analysis of N{sub 2} (C{sup 3}II{sub u} {yields} B{sup 3} II{sub g}) emission spectra, with small amounts of N{sub 2} added as actinometer gas. Under the same input power of 20 kW/cm{sup 3}, the peak gas temperature in helium ({approx}650 K) was significantly lower than that in argon (over 1200 K). This reflects the much higher thermal conductivity of helium gas. The gas temperature decreased with increasing gas flow rate, more so in argon compared to helium. This was consistent with the fact that conductive heat losses dominate in helium microplasmas, while convective heat losses play a major role in argon microplasmas. A plasma-gas flow simulation of the microdischarge, including a chemistry set, a compressible Navier-Stokes (and mass continuity) equation, and a convective heat transport equation, was also performed. Experimental measurements were in good agreement with simulation predictions. Finally, laser scattering experiments were performed at pressures of 100s of Torr in argon or nitrogen. Laser Thomson Scattering (LTS) and Rotational Raman Scattering were employed in a novel, backscattering, confocal configuration. LTS allows direct and simultaneous measurement of both electron density (ne) and electron temperature (Te). For 50 mA current and over the pressure range of 300-700 Torr, LTS yielded Te = 0.9 {+-} 0.3 eV and ne = (6 {+-} 3) 1013 cm-3, in reasonable agreement with the predictions of a mathematical model. Rotational Raman spectroscopy (RRS) was employed for absolute calibration of the LTS signal. RRS was also applied to measure the 3D gas temperature (Tg) in nitrogen DC microdischarges. In addition, diode laser absorption spectroscopy was employed to measure the density of argon metastables (1s5 in Paschen notations) in argon microdischarges. The gas temperature, extracted from the width of the absorption profile, was compared with Tg values obtained by optical emission spectroscopy

    Ion energy distributions in inductively coupled plasmas having a biased boundary electrode

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    In many plasma materials processing applications requiring energetic ion bombardment such as plasma etching, control of the time-averaged ion energy distributions (IEDs) to surfaces is becoming increasingly important to discriminate between surface processes having different threshold energies. Inductively coupled plasmas (ICPs) are attractive in this regard since the plasma potential is low and so the energy of ion fluxes can be more finely tuned with externally applied biases. In these situations, pulsed plasmas provide another level of control as the IEDs from different times during the pulse power period can be combined to create the desired time-averaged IED. A recent development in controlling of IEDs in ICPs is the use of a boundary electrode (BE) in which a continuous or pulsed dc bias is applied to shift the plasma potential and modify the IEDs to surfaces without significant changes in the bulk plasma properties. Combinations of pulsing the ICP power and the BE bias provide additional flexibility to craft IEDs. In this paper we discuss results from a computational investigation of IEDs to a grounded substrate in low-pressure (a few to 50 mTorr) ICPs sustained in argon. Results are compared with experimental measurements of plasma properties and IEDs. We demonstrate the ability to customize IEDs consisting of three energy peaks corresponding to the plasma potential during the plasma active glow, plasma afterglow and the plasma potential with the applied boundary voltage.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98615/1/0963-0252_21_6_065009.pd

    Baroreflex Impairment After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Is Associated With Unfavorable Outcome.

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    BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is characterized by important changes in the autonomic nervous system with potentially adverse consequences. The baroreflex has a key role in regulating the autonomic nervous system. Its role in SAH outcome is not known. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between the baroreflex and the functional 3-month outcome in SAH. METHODS: The study used a prospective database of 101 patients hospitalized for SAH. We excluded patients receiving β-blockers or noradrenaline. Baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) was measured using the cross-correlation method. A good outcome was defined by a Glasgow Outcome Scale score at 4 or 5 at 3 months. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients were included. Median age was 58 years old (36-76 years); women/men: 34/14. The World Federation of Neurosurgery clinical severity score on admission was 1 or 2 for 73% of patients. In the univariate analysis, BRS (P=0.007), sedation (P=0.001), World Federation of Neurosurgery score (P=0.001), Glasgow score (P=0.002), Fisher score (P=0.022), and heart rate (P=0.037) were associated with outcome. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the model with BRS as a single predictor was estimated at 0.835. For each unit increase in BRS, the odds for a good outcome were predicted to increase by 31%. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for heart rate alone was 0.670. In the multivariate analysis, BRS (odds ratio, 1.312; 95% confidence interval, 1.048-1.818; P=0.018) and World Federation of Neurosurgery (odds ratio, 0.382; 95% confidence interval, 0.171-0.706; P=0.001) were significantly associated with outcome. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was estimated at 0.900. CONCLUSIONS: In SAH, early BRS was associated with 3-month outcome. This conclusion requires confirmation on a larger number of patients in a multicentre study

    Deppining of a Superfluid Vortex Inside a Circular Defect

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    In this work we study the process of depinning of a quantum of circulation trapped inside a disk by an applied two dimensional superflow. We use the Gross-Pitaevskii model to describe the neutral superfluid. The collective coordinate dynamics is derived directly from the condensate equation of motion, the nonlinear Schroedinger equation, and it is used to obtain an expression for the critical velocity as a function of the defect radius. This expression is compared with a numerical result obtained from the time independent nonlinear Schroedinger equation. Below the critical velocity, we obtain the dependence of the semiclassical nucleation rate with the flow velocity at infinity. Above the critical velocity, the classical vortex depinning is illustrated with a numerical simulation of the time dependent nonlinear Schroedinger equation.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, uses revtex and epsf.st

    Comparison of different trapping methods to collect malaria vectors indoors and outdoors in western Kenya

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    Background: Vector surveillance is among the World Health Organization global vector control response (2017–2030) pillars. Human landing catches are a gold standard but difficult to implement and potentially expose collectors to malaria infection. Other methods like light traps, pyrethrum spray catches and aspiration are less expensive and less risky to collectors. Methods: Three mosquito sampling methods (UV light traps, CDC light traps and Prokopack aspiration) were evaluated against human landing catches (HLC) in two villages of Rarieda sub-county, Siaya County, Kenya. UV-LTs, CDC-LTs and HLCs were conducted hourly between 17:00 and 07:00. Aspiration was done indoors and outdoors between 07:00 and 11:00 a.m. Analyses of mosquito densities, species abundance and sporozoite infectivity were performed across all sampling methods. Species identification PCR and ELISAs were done for Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus complexes and data analysis was done in R. Results: Anopheles mosquitoes sampled from 608 trapping efforts were 5,370 constituting 70.3% Anopheles funestus sensu lato (s.l.), 19.7% Anopheles coustani and 7.2% An. gambiae s.l. 93.8% of An. funestus s.l. were An. funestus sensu stricto (s.s.) and 97.8% of An. gambiae s.l. were Anopheles arabiensis. Only An. funestus were sporozoite positive with 3.1% infection prevalence. Indoors, aspiration captured higher An. funestus (mean = 6.74; RR = 8.83, P < 0.001) then UV-LT (mean = 3.70; RR = 3.97, P < 0.001) and CDC-LT (mean = 1.74; RR = 1.89, P = 0.03) compared to HLC. UV-LT and CDC-LT indoors captured averagely 0.18 An. arabiensis RR = 5.75, P = 0.028 and RR = 5.87, P = 0.028 respectively. Outdoors, UV-LT collected significantly higher Anopheles mosquitoes compared to HLC (An. funestus: RR = 5.18, P < 0.001; An. arabiensis: RR = 15.64, P = 0.009; An. coustani: RR = 11.65, P < 0.001). Anopheles funestus hourly biting indoors in UV-LT and CDC-LT indicated different peaks compared to HLC. Conclusions: Anopheles funestus remains the predominant mosquito species. More mosquitoes were collected using aspiration, CDC-LTs and UV-LTs indoors and UV-LTs and CD-LTs outdoors compared to HLCs. UV-LTs collected more mosquitoes than CDC-LTs. The varied trends observed at different times of the night suggest that these methods collect mosquitoes with diverse activities and care must be taken when interpreting the results

    On-Orbit Results From the NASA Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity With a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) Mission

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    The NASA TROPICS Earth Venture (EVI-3) CubeSat constellation mission will provide nearly all-weather observations of 3-D temperature and humidity, as well as cloud ice and precipitation horizontal structure, at high temporal resolution to conduct high-value science investigations of tropical cyclones. TROPICS will provide rapid-refresh microwave measurements (median refresh rate better than 60 minutes for the baseline mission) over the tropics that can be used to observe the thermodynamics of the troposphere and precipitation structure for storm systems at the mesoscale and synoptic scale over the entire storm lifecycle. The TROPICS constellation mission comprises four 3UCubeSats (5.4 kg each) in two low-Earth orbital planes. Each CubeSat contains a Blue Canyon Technologies bus and a high-performance radiometer payload to provide temperature profiles using seven channels near the 118.75 GHz oxygen absorption line, water vapor profiles using three channels near the 183 GHz water vapor absorption line, imagery in a single channel near 90 GHz for precipitation measurements (when combined with higher resolution water vapor channels), and a single channel at 205 GHz that is more sensitive to precipitation-sized ice particles. TROPICS spatial resolution and measurement sensitivity is comparable with current state-of-the-art observing platforms. Two dedicated launches (two spacecraft per launch) for the TROPICS constellation mission on Rocket Lab Electron vehicles occurred in 2023 (May 8 and May 26) to place the spacecraft in 32.75-degree inclined orbits at 550 km altitude. Data will be downlinked to the ground via the KSAT-Lite ground network. NASA\u27s Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program Office approved the separate TROPICS Pathfinder mission, which launched on June 30, 2021, in advance of the TROPICS constellation mission as a technology demonstration and risk reduction effort. The TROPICS Pathfinder mission has provided an opportunity to checkout and optimize all mission elements prior to the primary constellation mission and is still operating nominally

    The NASA Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) Mission: Results from the Pathfinder Demonstration and Look Ahead to the Constellation Mission

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    The NASA Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission will provide nearly all-weather observations of 3-D temperature and humidity, as well as cloud ice and precipitation horizontal structure, at high temporal resolution to conduct high-value science investigations of tropical cyclones. TROPICS will provide rapid-refresh microwave measurements (median refresh rate of approximately 50 minutes for the baseline mission) over the tropics that can be used to observe the thermodynamics of the troposphere and precipitation structure for storm systems at the mesoscale and synoptic scale over the entire storm lifecycle. The TROPICS constellation mission comprises six CubeSats in three low-Earth orbital planes. Each CubeSat will host a high-performance radiometer to provide temperature profiles using seven channels near the 118.75 GHz oxygen absorption line, water vapor profiles using three channels near the 183 GHz water vapor absorption line, imagery in a single channel near 90 GHz for precipitation measurements (when combined with higher resolution water vapor channels), and a single channel at 205 GHz that is more sensitive to precipitation-sized ice particles. TROPICS spatial resolution and measurement sensitivity is comparable with current state-of-the-art observing platforms. Launches for the TROPICS constellation mission are planned in 2022. NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program Office approved the separate TROPICS Pathfinder mission, which launched into a sun-synchronous orbit (2:00pm LTDN, 530 km) on June 30, 2021, in advance of the TROPICS constellation mission as a technology demonstration and risk reduction effort. The TROPICS Pathfinder mission has provided an opportunity to checkout and optimize all mission elements prior to the primary constellation mission. In this paper, we describe the instrument checkout and calibration/validation plans and progress for the TROPICS Pathfinder mission and discuss first light mission results. All spacecraft and radiometer systems are fully operational as of Launch + 11 months
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