Fabrication of one silicon-germanium thermoelectric test unit Final report

Use of thermoelectric test unit to determine applicability of silicon-germanium power modules to space power systems requirement

Criterion for universality class independent critical fluctuations: example of the 2D Ising model

Order parameter fluctuations for the two dimensional Ising model in the region of the critical temperature are presented. A locus of temperatures T*(L) and of magnetic fields B*(L) are identified, for which the probability density function is similar to that for the 2D-XY model in the spin wave approximation.The characteristics of the fluctuations along these points are largely independent of universality class. We show that the largest range of fluctuations relative to the variance of the distribution occurs along these loci of points, rather than at the critical temperature itself and we discuss this observation in terms of intermittency. Our motivation is the identification of a generic form for fluctuations in correlated systems in accordance with recent experimental and numerical observations. We conclude that a universality class dependent form for the fluctuations is a particularity of critical phenomena related to the change in symmetry at a phase transition.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev.

Dissociating visuo-spatial and verbal working memory: It’s all in the features

Echoing many of the themes of the seminal work of Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968), this paper uses the Feature Model (Nairne, 1988, 1990; Neath & Nairne, 1995) to account for performance in working memory tasks. The Brooks verbal and visuo-spatial matrix tasks were performed alone, with articulatory suppression, or with a spatial suppression task; the results produced the expected dissociation. We used Approximate Bayesian Computation techniques to fit the Feature Model to the data and showed that the similarity-based interference process implemented in the model accounted for the data patterns well. We then fit the model to data from Guérard and Tremblay (2008); the latter study produced a double dissociation while calling upon more typical order reconstruction tasks. Again, the model performed well. The findings show that a double dissociation can be modelled without appealing to separate systems for verbal and visuo-spatial processing. The latter findings are significant as the Feature Model had not been used to model this type of dissociation before; importantly, this is also the first time the model is quantitatively fit to data. For the demonstration provided here, modularity was unnecessary if two assumptions were made: (1) the main difference between spatial and verbal working memory tasks is the features that are encoded; (2) secondary tasks selectively interfere with primary tasks to the extent that both tasks involve similar features. It is argued that a feature-based view is more parsimonious (see Morey, 2018) and offers flexibility in accounting for multiple benchmark effects in the field

Neutron star radii and crusts: uncertainties and unified equations of state

The uncertainties in neutron star (NS) radii and crust properties due to our limited knowledge of the equation of state (EOS) are quantitatively analysed. We first demonstrate the importance of a unified microscopic description for the different baryonic densities of the star. If the pressure functional is obtained matching a crust and a core EOS based on models with different properties at nuclear matter saturation, the uncertainties can be as large as $\sim 30\%$ for the crust thickness and $4\%$ for the radius. Necessary conditions for causal and thermodynamically consistent matchings between the core and the crust are formulated and their consequences examined. A large set of unified EOS for purely nucleonic matter is obtained based on 24 Skyrme interactions and 9 relativistic mean-field nuclear parametrizations. In addition, for relativistic models 17 EOS including a transition to hyperonic matter at high density are presented. All these EOS have in common the property of describing a $2\;M_\odot$ star and of being causal within stable NS. A span of $\sim 3$ km and $\sim 4$ km is obtained for the radius of, respectively, $1.0\;M_\odot$ and $2.0\;M_\odot$ star. Applying a set of nine further constraints from experiment and ab-initio calculations the uncertainty is reduced to $\sim 1$ km and $2$ km, respectively. These residual uncertainties reflect lack of constraints at large densities and insufficient information on the density dependence of the EOS near the nuclear matter saturation point. The most important parameter to be constrained is shown to be the symmetry energy slope $L$ which exhibits a linear correlation with the stellar radius, particularly for masses $\sim 1.0\;M_\odot$. Potential constraints on $L$, the NS radius and the EOS from observations of thermal states of NS are also discussed. [Abriged]Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. C. Supplemental material not include

A note on the detection of bean yellow mosaic virus infecting white lupine in Canada

Des symptômes de mosaïque virale ont été observés dans des champs expérimentaux de lupin (Lupinus albus) dans Test du Canada. Les plants affectés montraient des symptômes de mosaïque, de réduction et de déformation des feuilles, et de nanisme du plant. Les symptômes ont pu être reproduits en serre par inoculation mécanique sur le cultivar de lupin Ultra. Les symptômes observés sur des espèces diagnostiques, l'observation par microscopie électronique, la détection sérologique ELISA et l'analyse immunologique Western ont été utilisés pour identifier le virus présent. Un potyvirus, identifié comme le virus de la mosaïque jaune du haricot (BYMV), a été détecté dans les plants affectés. Ces résultats sont les premiers à caractériser une maladie virale du lupin au Canada. Puisque le virus est transmis par les pucerons et par la graine, la présence du virus peut devenir une limitation à la production du lupin.Virus-like symptoms were observed in fields of white lupine (Lupinus albus) in Eastern Canada. Affected plants displayed mosaic, leaf stunting and deformation, and bunchy growth habit. The disease was successfully reproduced in greenhouse by mechanical inoculation of white lupine cv. Ultra. The causal virus was identified as bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV) by symptomatology on diagnostic species, electron microscopy, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunodetection after Western blotting. This is the first report of a viral disease of lupine in Canada. BYMV may represent a significant limitation to lupine culture since it is transmitted by aphids and through infected seed

How to design and evaluate interventions to improve outcomes for patients with multimorbidity

Multimorbidity is a major challenge for patients and healthcare providers. The limited evidence of the effectiveness of interventions for people with multimorbidity means that there is a need for much more research and trials of potential interventions. Here we present a consensus view from a group of international researchers working to improve care for people with multimorbidity to guide future studies of interventions. We suggest that there is a need for careful consideration of whom to include, how to target interventions that address specific problems and that do not add to treatment burden, and selecting outcomes that matter both to patients and the healthcare system. Innovative design of these interventions will be necessary as many will be introduced in service settings and it will be important to ensure methodological rigour, relevance to service delivery, and generalizability across healthcare systems