Direct Peritectic Growth of c-Axis Textured YBa2Cu3O x on a Flexible Metallic Substrate

Previous work in the development of YBa₂Cu₃O _x (YBCO) superconducting wires and tapes has been focused on the deposition of YBCO on buffered metallic substrates. Although such an approach has proved successful in terms of achieving grain texturing and high transport current density, critical issues involving continuous processing of long-length conductors and stabilization of the superconductor have not yet been entirely settled. We have developed a novel process, the so-called direct peritectic growth (DPG), in which textured YBCO thick films have been successfully deposited directly onto a silver alloy substrate. No buffer layer is employed in the film deposition process. The textured YBCO grains have been obtained through peritectic solidification over a wide range of temperatures and times. The substrate materials have not demonstrated any observable reaction with the YBCO melt at the maximum processing temperature near 1010°C. The transport J _c has reached a respectable value of 10⁴ A/cm² at 77 K and zero magnetic field. Based on the experimental results in this work, we show that the DPG method offers an effective alternative for the fabrication of long-length YBCO conductors. Also reported is a physical explanation of the texturing mechanism on the metal substrate.     

Forecast of trademark applications in Switzerland

Trademark offices which run according to principles of new management have an inherent need for dependable forecasting data in planning capacity and service levels. We wanted to find out whether there are factors which positively or negatively influence customers to register trademarks in Switzerland. Lacking literature on the idiosyncrasies of trademark filing behavior, we developed our own forecasting model adapted from those in other fields. It included timelines for trademark applications and corresponding classes over a 9-year period (1992–2001) and internal events which might possibly influence filing.The forecast is based on state space models with and without explanatory variables. We used a standard model with trend, season and random components, then added variables for external interventions and finally, added a model for regressors. The result was a statistical model which produced reliable forecasting over an 18-month period. It compares well to four other forecasting methods. Reliability was improved slightly by adding economic variables such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, SPI, SMI and the Swiss Consumer Index.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Distance Learning: A Comparison Using Meta-Analysis

This article uses meta-analysis to summarize the quantitative literature comparing the performance of students in distance education versus traditional classes. The average effect (average r = .048, k = 39, N = 71,731) demonstrates that distance education course students slightly outperformed traditional students on exams and course grades. The average effect was heterogeneous, and the examination of several moderating features (presence or absence of simultaneous interaction, type of channel used in distance education, and course substance) failed to produce a homogeneous solution. The results demonstrate, however, no clear decline in educational effectiveness when using distance education technology.     

Investment in Rental Housing in Australia: Small Landlords and Institutional Investors

The private rental sector has always been an important part of the Australian housing system. Although declining in relation to home ownership in the two decades after the Second World War, private renting has never fallen below 20 per cent of the total housing stock, a share that it has maintained over the past 40 years. Small, scale petty landlordism has characterised this market sector, with a majority of rental stock owned by individuals. This paper summaries the specific characteristics of rental ownership in Australia, drawing on a recent national survey of landlords carried out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and identifies the key factors responsible for the persistence of this pattern of ownership. The reasons for the absence of institutional investors from this sector are then discussed, based on selective interviews with key players in the banking, insurance and superannuation industries. Current changes in market and policy environments are identified which may, however, increase the likelihood of institutional involvement in the provision of rental housing, in general, and social housing, in particular. The analysis is informed by the results of financial modelling carried out at the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.     

Detecting and describing preventive intervention effects in a universal school-based randomized trial targeting delinquent and violent behavior.

This study examined theoretical, methodological, and statistical problems involved in evaluating the outcome of aggression on the playground for a universal preventive intervention for conduct disorder. Moderately aggressive children were hypothesized most likely to benefit. Aggression was measured on the playground using observers blind to the group status of the children. Behavior was microcoded in real time to minimize potential expectancy biases. The effectiveness of the intervention was strongly relate to initial levels of aggressiveness. The most aggressive children improved the most. Models that incorporated corrections for low reliability (the ratio of variance due to true time-stable individual differences to total variance) and censoring (a floor effect in the rate data due to short periods of observation) obtained effect sizes 5 times larger than models without such corrections with respect to children who were initially 2 SDs above the mean on aggressiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

选择低功耗MCU

嵌入式微控制器(MCU)的功耗在当今电池供电应用中正变得越来越举足轻重。大多MCU芯片厂商都提供低功耗产品，但是选择一款适合自己应用的产品并非易事，并不像对比数据表前面的数据那么简单。用户必须详细对比MCU功能，以便找到功耗最低的产品，这些功能包括：     

An integrated systems biology approach to understanding the rules of keratinocyte colony formation.

Closely coupled in vitro and in virtuo models have been used to explore the self-organization of normal human keratinocytes (NHK). Although it can be observed experimentally, we lack the tools to explore many biological rules that govern NHK self-organization. An agent-based computational model was developed, based on rules derived from literature, which predicts the dynamic multicellular morphogenesis of NHK and of a keratinocyte cell line (HaCat cells) under varying extracellular Ca++ concentrations. The model enables in virtuo exploration of the relative importance of biological rules and was used to test hypotheses in virtuo which were subsequently examined in vitro. Results indicated that cell-cell and cell-substrate adhesions were critically important to NHK self-organization. In contrast, cell cycle length and the number of divisions that transit-amplifying cells could undergo proved non-critical to the final organization. Two further hypotheses, to explain the growth behaviour of HaCat cells, were explored in virtuo-an inability to differentiate and a differing sensitivity to extracellular calcium. In vitro experimentation provided some support for both hypotheses. For NHKs, the prediction was made that the position of stem cells would influence the pattern of cell migration post-wounding. This was then confirmed experimentally using a scratch wound model.     

A High Performance 700?GHz Feed Horn

We present a design of a high performance horn operating at 700 GHz. The feed, which comprises three smooth-walled conical sections, is easy to machine and yet has comparable performance to a corrugated horn. The measured radiation patterns show high main beam circularity, low sidelobe level and good agreement with theoretical predictions. The cross-polar level is below −20 dB across a frequency bandwidth of 140 GHz. The new design allows the fabrication of high performance, large format feed arrays cheaply and rapidly.