Patterned silicon substrates: a common platform for room temperature GaN and ZnO polariton lasers

A new platform for fabricating polariton lasers operating at room temperature is introduced: nitride-based distributed Bragg reflectors epitaxially grown on patterned silicon substrates. The patterning allows for an enhanced strain relaxation thereby enabling to stack a large number of crack-free AlN/AlGaN pairs and achieve cavity quality factors of several thousands with a large spatial homogeneity. GaN and ZnO active regions are epitaxially grown thereon and the cavities are completed with top dielectric Bragg reflectors. The two structures display strong-coupling and polariton lasing at room temperature and constitute an intermediate step in the way towards integrated polariton devices

Target Selection for the SDSS-IV APOGEE-2 Survey

APOGEE-2 is a high-resolution, near-infrared spectroscopic survey observing roughly 300,000 stars across the entire sky. It is the successor to APOGEE and is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV). APOGEE-2 is expanding upon APOGEE's goals of addressing critical questions of stellar astrophysics, stellar populations, and Galactic chemodynamical evolution using (1) an enhanced set of target types and (2) a second spectrograph at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. APOGEE-2 is targeting red giant branch (RGB) and red clump (RC) stars, RR Lyrae, low-mass dwarf stars, young stellar objects, and numerous other Milky Way and Local Group sources across the entire sky from both hemispheres. In this paper, we describe the APOGEE-2 observational design, target selection catalogs and algorithms, and the targeting-related documentation included in the SDSS data releases.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures. Accepted to A

Open TURNS: An industrial software for uncertainty quantification in simulation

The needs to assess robust performances for complex systems and to answer tighter regulatory processes (security, safety, environmental control, and health impacts, etc.) have led to the emergence of a new industrial simulation challenge: to take uncertainties into account when dealing with complex numerical simulation frameworks. Therefore, a generic methodology has emerged from the joint effort of several industrial companies and academic institutions. EDF R&D, Airbus Group and Phimeca Engineering started a collaboration at the beginning of 2005, joined by IMACS in 2014, for the development of an Open Source software platform dedicated to uncertainty propagation by probabilistic methods, named OpenTURNS for Open source Treatment of Uncertainty, Risk 'N Statistics. OpenTURNS addresses the specific industrial challenges attached to uncertainties, which are transparency, genericity, modularity and multi-accessibility. This paper focuses on OpenTURNS and presents its main features: openTURNS is an open source software under the LGPL license, that presents itself as a C++ library and a Python TUI, and which works under Linux and Windows environment. All the methodological tools are described in the different sections of this paper: uncertainty quantification, uncertainty propagation, sensitivity analysis and metamodeling. A section also explains the generic wrappers way to link openTURNS to any external code. The paper illustrates as much as possible the methodological tools on an educational example that simulates the height of a river and compares it to the height of a dyke that protects industrial facilities. At last, it gives an overview of the main developments planned for the next few years

Estimates of Critical Power and Anaerobic Work Capacity from a Single, All-Out Test of Less than 3-Min

The purpose of this study was to determine if Critical Power (CP) and Anaerobic Work Capacity (AWC) could be estimated from a single, all-out test of less than 3-min. Twenty-eight subjects (mean ± SD: age 23.3 ± 3.3 years, body mass 71.6 ± 16 kg) performed an incremental cycle ergometer test to exhaustion to determine peak oxygen consumption rate and heart rate peak. The 3-min all-out test was used to determine the criterion and six estimated values of CP and AWC. The criterion critical power (CP180) and anaerobic work capacity (AWC180) values were determined from the 3-min all-out test and were expressed as 30-s averages (155-180-s). The six estimated CP and AWC values were calculated from 30-s averages at decreasing 10-s intervals from 145 to 170-s (CP170 and AWC170), 135 to 160-s (CP160 and AWC160), 125 to 150-s (CP150 and AWC150), 115 to 140-s (CP140 and AWC140), 105 to 130-s (CP130 and AWC130), and 95 to 120-s (CP120 and AWC120). Mean differences, total error, constant error, standard error of the estimate, and correlations were used to compare the criterion to the estimated CP and AWC values. The results of the present study indicated that 150-s was the shortest test duration that resulted in non-significant differences between the criterion (CP180 and AWC180) and estimated CP (CP150) and AWC (AWC150) values. The subsequent validation analyses showed that there were close agreements for the estimated CP150 and AWC150 versus the criterion (CP180 and AWC180) values. Therefore, the current findings indicated that estimates of CP and AWC were not affected by shortening the test by 30-s. Reducing the length of the test to 2.5 minutes provides a less strenuous, yet valid protocol for estimating CP and AWC

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF MIXING POTATO VARIETIES ON LATE BLIGHT

A field study in two regions of Peru was conducted to determine how host-diversity effects on potato late blight varied geographically. Foliar disease severity was evaluated separately for the potato varieties in mixtures as well as in the single-variety plots. The TAUDPC (truncated area under the disease progress curve) and RMR (relative mixture response) for each site were analyzed separately using SAS mixed effects model procedures. While there was little difference between the sites in the 1997-1998 season, host-diversity effects were generally greater near Huancayo than near Cajamarca in the 1998-1999 season. Estimates of host-diversity effects from studies in Oregon and Ecuador were also compared with results for Peru. Host-diversity effects for reduced disease were generally greater for sites where we predicted lower levels of outside inoculum

Coactivation index of children with congenital upper limb reduction deficiencies before and after using a wristdriven 3D printed partial hand prosthesis

Background: Co-contraction is the simultaneous activation of agonist and antagonist muscles that produces forces around a joint. It is unknown if the use of a wrist-driven 3D printed transitional prostheses has any influence on the neuromuscular motor control strategies of the affected hand of children with unilateral upper-limb reduction deficiencies. Thus, the purpose of the current investigation was to examine the coactivation index (CI) of children with congenital upper-limb reduction deficiencies before and after 6 months of using a wrist-driven 3D printed partial hand prosthesis. Methods: Electromyographic activity of wrist flexors and extensors (flexor carpi ulnaris and extensor digitorum) was recorded during maximal voluntary contraction of the affected and non-affected wrists. Co-contraction was calculated using the coactivation index and was expressed as percent activation of antagonist over agonist. Nine children (two girls and seven boys, 6 to 16 years of age) with congenital upper-limb deficiencies participated in this study and were fitted with a wrist-driven 3D printed prosthetic hand. From the nine children, five (two girls and three boys, 7 to 10 years of age) completed a second visit after using the wrist-driven 3D printed partial hand prosthesis for 6 months. Results: Separate two-way repeated measures ANOVAs were performed to analyze the coactivation index and strength data. There was a significant main effect for hand with the affected hand resulting in a higher coactivation index for flexion and extension than the non-affected hand. For wrist flexion there was a significant main effect for time indicating that the affected and non-affected hand had a significantly lower coactivation index after a period of 6 months. Conclusion: The use of a wrist-driven 3D printed hand prosthesis lowered the coactivation index by 70% in children with congenital upper limb reduction deficiencies. This reduction in coactivation and possible improvement in motor control strategies can potentially improve prosthetic rehabilitation outcomes

Paleoseismology of a major crustal seismogenic source near Mexico City. The southern border of the Acambay Graben

The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt is an active continental volcanic arc related to subduction along the Middle America trench. It is characterized by intra-arc extension resulting into several major arc-parallel active fault systems and tectonic basins. The Acambay graben, one of the largest of these basins, is located near Mexico City, in the central part of this province. In 1912, a M 6.9 earthquake ruptured the surface along the northern border of the graben together with at least two other faults. In this paper, we analyze the paleoseismic history of the southern border of the Acambay Graben, with new observations made in one natural outcrop and four paleoseismological trenches excavated across branches of the Venta de Bravo Fault at the site where it overlaps with the Pastores Fault. We present evidence of at least two paleo-earthquakes that occurred between 12,190 +/- 175 and 5,822 +/- 87 cal year BP and between 647 +/- 77 and 250 cal year BP. On one of these branches, we estimate a minimum slip-rate value between 0.1 and 0.23 mm/year for the last 12 ka and a mean recurrence interval of 8.5 +/- 3 ka. By considering several likely rupture lengths along the Venta de Bravo and Pastores faults, we calculated a maximum possible magnitude of M-w 7.01 +/- 0.27. Finally, by correlating events recorded along different faults within the Acambay Graben, we discuss several possible rupture coalescent scenarios and related consequences for Mexico City