Night and Day: Are Siblings as Different in Temperament as Parents Say They Are?

Twin studies suggest that parent ratings of temperament exaggerate differences between twins. The present study examined whether such contrast effects also operate for nontwin siblings. The activity level (AL) and shyness of 95 nontwin sibling pairs (ages 3 to 8 years) were assessed via parent ratings and objective measures (actigraph and observer ratings). Siblings showed no resemblance in either parent-rated AL or shyness; however, sibling resemblance for actigraph AL and observer-rated shyness was substantial. Thus, parents do contrast their nontwin siblings when rating these 2 temperament dimensions. Moreover, the importance of sibling differences in temperament to the sibling relationship and differential maternal treatment varied across the different measures of AL and shyness, suggesting that parent perceptions may play a role in these associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dicyanate semi IPNs—A new class of high performance,high temperature plastics

Dicyanate Semi-Interpenetrating Polymer Networks (semi IPNs) are made by dissolving a thermoplastic in crosslinking dicyanates and then curing the resulting mixture. The semi IPNs produced are strong, with tensile strengths of 10,000 to 12,000 psi, and flexible, with elongations to break of 10 to 17 percent. Dicyanate semi IPNs also have good thermal stability and the softening temperatures of the IPNs are significantly, higher than those of the corresponding thermoplastics.     

Deposition and Properties of Superconducting MgB2 Thin Films

The recently discovered superconductor MgB₂ with T _c at 39 K has great potential in superconducting electronics. In this paper, we review the deposition techniques used for MgB₂ thin films in the light of a thermodynamic study of the Mg-B system with the calculation of phase diagrams (CALPHAD) modeling technique. This thermodynamic study identifies a growth window in the pressure–temperature phase diagram, in which the magnesium pressure is very high for likely in situ growth temperatures. A Hybrid Physical–Chemical Vapor Deposition (HPCVD) technique that successfully achieves such a high Mg pressure is shown to produce in situ epitaxial MgB₂ thin films with bulk superconducting properties.     

Pressure sensor performance and reliability

Pressure sensor devices are used to monitor the performance characteristics of various systems within the appliance industry. The household washing machine has long employed sensor devices to monitor and control the tub water level during fill cycles. These devices have evolved from early watertight or float switches to rubber diaphragm mechanical-type devices. The development of epoxy packaging capability for silicon sensors, improved die bonding material, and reliability testing results indicate that the silicon piezo-resistive transducer (PRT) promises to be the next plateau. Silicon PRT electronic devices offer a significant size and weight reduction over these mechanical devices. The authors discuss the reliability testing considerations for the sensors and reliability testing for the appliance industry