Anomalous Thermal Expansion in Superconducting Mg1− x Al x B2 System

The thermal lattice expansion in the superconducting Mg_{1? x} Al _x B₂ system (x = 0, 0.13, and 0.59) has been measured using high-resolution X-ray powder diffraction. An unusual large negative thermal expansion (NTE) appears for temperatures below T ^* = 60 K in the MgB₂. The NTE effect increases in Mg_0.87Al_0.13B₂ and disappears at high Al content in the Mg_0.59Al_0.41B₂ where the temperature dependence of volume follows a standard Einstein model in the whole temperature range. The anomalous behavior of the thermal expansion provides a direct evidence in the physics of diborides for the relevance of the proximity to the 2.5 Lifshitz electronic topological transition where the Fermi surface of the σband changes from a two-dimensional (2D) to a three-dimensional (3D) topology.     

A residualizing semantics for the partial evaluation of functional logic programs

Recent proposals for multi-paradigm declarative programming combine the most important features of functional, logic and concurrent programming into a single framework. The operational semantics of these languages is usually based on a combination of narrowing and residuation. In this paper, we introduce a non-standard, residualizing semantics for multi-paradigm declarative programs and prove its equivalence with a standard operational semantics. Our residualizing semantics is particularly relevant within the area of program transformation where it is useful, e.g., to perform computations during partial evaluation. Thus, the proof of equivalence is a crucial result to demonstrate the correctness of (existing) partial evaluation schemes.     

Recyclable,Flexible, Low‐Power Oxide Electronics

The ability to process and dimensionally scale field‐effect transistors with and on paper and to integrate them as a core component for low‐power‐consumption analog and digital circuits is demonstrated. Low‐temperature‐processed p‐ and n‐channel integrated oxide thin‐film transistors in the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) inverter architecture are seamlessly layered on mechanically flexible, low‐cost, recyclable paper substrates. The possibility of building these circuits using low‐temperature processes opens the door to new applications ranging from smart labels and sensors on clothing and packaging to electronic displays printed on paper pages for use in newspapers, magazines, books, signs, and advertising billboards. Because the CMOS circuits reported constitute fundamental building blocks for analog and digital electronics, this development creates the potential to have flexible form factor computers seamlessly layered onto paper. The holistic approach of merging low‐power circuitry with a recyclable substrate is an important step towards greener electronics.     

Optimal Experimental Designs in the Flow Rate of Particles

This article focuses on analyzing the process of jam formation during the discharge by gravity of granular material stored in a two-dimensional silo. The aim of the article is two-fold. First, optimal experimental designs are computed, in which four approaches are considered: D-optimality, a combination of D-optimality and a cost/gain function, Bayesian D-optimality, and sequential designing. These results reveal that the efficiency of the design used by the experimenters can be improved dramatically. A sensitivity analysis with respect to the most important parameter is also performed. Second, estimation of the unknown parameters is done using least squares, that is, assuming normality, and also via maximum likelihood assuming the exponential distribution. Simulations for the designs considered in this article show that the variance, the mean squared error, and the bias of the estimators using maximum likelihood are in most cases lower than those using least squares. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.     

A microfluidic toolbox for cell fusion

Cellular fusion is a key process in many fields ranging from historical gene mapping studies and monoclonal antibody production, through to cell reprogramming. Traditional methodologies for cell fusion rely on the random pairing of different cell types and generally result in low and variable fusion efficiencies. These approaches become particularly limiting where substantial numbers of bespoke one‐to‐one fusions are required, for example, for in‐depth studies of nuclear reprogramming mechanisms. In recent years, microfluidic technologies have proven valuable in creating platforms where the manipulation of single cells is highly efficient, rapid and controllable. These technologies also allow the integration of different experimental steps and characterisation processes into a single platform. Although the application of microfluidic methodologies to cell fusion studies is promising, current technologies that rely on static trapping are limited both in terms of the overall number of fused cells produced and their experimental accessibility. Here we review some of the most exciting breakthroughs in core microfluidic technologies that will allow the creation of integrated platforms for controlled cell fusion at high throughput. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry     

Base invariance of feasible dimension

Effective fractal dimensions were introduced by Lutz (2003) in order to study the dimensions of individual sequences and quantitatively analyze the structure of complexity classes. Interesting connections of effective dimensions with information theory were also found, implying that constructive dimension as well as polynomial-space dimension are invariant under base change while finite-state dimension is not.We consider the intermediate case, polynomial-time dimension, and prove that it is indeed invariant under base change by a nontrivial argument which is quite different from the Kolmogorov complexity ones used in the other cases.Polynomial-time dimension can be characterized in terms of prediction loss rate, entropy, and compression algorithms. Our result implies that in an asymptotic way each of these concepts is invariant under base change.A corollary of the main theorem is any polynomial-time dimension 1 number (which may be established in any base) is an absolutely normal number, providing an interesting source of absolute normality.