Integration Of New Materials Research Articles

Integrated Seismic and Energy Retrofitting of Masonry Elements Strengthened with PCM-enhanced GTRM/FRCM systems

The integration/combination of seismic and energy retrofit measures has been a subject of study for the past decade, exhibiting promising prospects. The main objective of these interventions is to mitigate seismic vulnerability while concurrently enhancing the energy performance and efficiency of new and existing buildings. Integrated approaches can hold the potential for substantial cost savings, time efficiency, and minimal disruption to occupants. The current body of literature emphasizes exploring the benefits of incorporating innovative methods/materials into conventional uncoupled retrofit initiatives. This study focuses on evaluating integrated measures at the panel scale for the prevalent Unreinforced Masonry (URM) typologies in Italy. A design framework has been introduced, aimed at enhancing the seismic capacity of buildings while concurrently improving energy efficiency through the integration of new materials (e.g., highly latent thermal energy storage systems achieved through the integration of Phase Change Materials - PCMs) into retrofit materials. To assess the reduction of the seismic vulnerability, the improvement of the shear strength is estimated by modifying the failure domains, while energy efficiency and thermal-energy storage enhancements are evaluated by using enthalpy-based theories, implemented into open-source software (i.e., FEM-based and through EnergyPlus). Thus, the design variables are those defined by the URM typologies, the adopted retrofitting technique, and the considered envelope. The adopted integrated (seismic and energy retrofitting) solutions will be compared with the standard reference one in terms of the energy consumed by the enclosed building to keep the indoor thermal comfort which also guarantees the target level of structural performance.

Heterogeneous integration in silicon photonics: opportunities and challenges: opinion

The application span of silicon photonics is rapidly evolving from high speed transceivers for data- and telecommunication to a broad range of functionalities for many different markets, especially in the sensing and computing space. As a result, the demand for new building blocks and enhanced performance is accelerating and diversifying. Heterogeneous integration of new materials, chips and thin-film chiplets is becoming of key importance in this context. But the implementation of industrial supply chains for this diverse need will be challenging and may require a new supply chain model with dedicated standardization and test methods at the interface between the actors involved. This opinion article discusses opportunities and challenges associated with heterogeneous integration in silicon photonics, in particular with respect to future market growth and the design of process flows for heterogeneous integration.

High Shear Thin Film Synthesis of Partially Oxidized Gallium and Indium Composite 2D Sheets.

Reducing resistance in silicon-based devices is important as they get miniaturized further. 2D materials offer an opportunity to increase conductivity whilst reducing size. A scalable, environmentally benign method is developed for preparing partially oxidized gallium/indium sheets down to 10nm thick from a eutectic melt of the two metals. Exfoliation of the planar/corrugated oxide skin of the melt is achieved using the vortex fluidic device with a variation in composition across the sheets determined using Auger spectroscopy. From an application perspective, the oxidized gallium indium sheets reduce the contact resistance between metals such as platinum and silicon (Si) as a semiconductor. Current‒voltage measurements between a platinum atomic force microscopytip and a Si-H substrate show that the current switches from being a rectifier to a highly conducting ohmic contact. These characteristics offer new opportunities for controlling Si surface properties at the nanoscale and enable the integration of new materials with Si platforms.

Twin Rooms – new experimental test cells for testing advanced facade elements

Nowadays the global trend is the integration of new materials, constructions and technological principles, which are simultaneously implemented in individual scientific and engineering disciplines. Reducing the energy intensity of buildings will increasingly resonate in individual political and professional circles. As a result, new fragments of building envelopes in the field of facade engineering are being developed and tested. Testing of building envelope is carried out either in static (laboratory) boundary conditions or in dynamic (climatic, real) conditions. The determination of the test method is conditioned by the specific intention or the investigated phenomenon within the construction of the building envelope. Currently, we finished the development and realization of the new experimental facility Twin Rooms for testing advanced elements of building envelopes in dynamic boundary conditions (in the real climate of Central Europe - Bratislava) in terms of building thermal engineering and energy efficiency of buildings. It is based on the concept of pavilion measurement. The essence of the research is that the outdoor climate is modelled by the conditions of the real outdoor climate. Test cells consists of a solar laboratory - two-room for a comparative study of the effect of solar radiation and heat transfer on energy consumption and indoor climate. The space of two identical laboratory rooms is situated inside a container - a pavilion, whose climate is a compensating space. Only the tested facade element walls are exposed to the outdoor climate. The exchange of energy with the environment is possible only through this measured facade wall. The article brings a detailed description of this experimental equipment, basic technical parameters of its technological circuits and methodology of experimental measurements.

Walking on water: revisiting the role of water in articular cartilage biomechanics in relation to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

The importance, and the difficulty, of generating biosynthetic articular cartilage is widely recognized. Problems arise from obtaining sufficient stiffness, toughness and longevity in the material and integration of new material into existing cartilage and bone. Much work has been done on chondrocytes and tissue macromolecular components while water, which comprises the bulk of the tissue, is largely seen as a passive component; the ‘solid matrix’ is believed to be the main load-bearing element most of the time. Water is commonly seen as an inert filler whose restricted flow through the tissue is believed to be sufficient to generate the properties measured. We propose that this model should be turned on its head. Water comprises 70–80% of the matrix and has a bulk modulus considerably greater than that of cartilage. We suggest that the macromolecular components structure the water to support the loads applied. Here, we shall examine the structure and organization of the main macromolecules, collagen, aggrecan and hyaluronan, and explore how water interacts with their polyelectrolyte nature. This may inform the biosynthetic process by identifying starting points to enable developing tissue properties to guide the cells into producing the appropriate macromolecular composition and structure.

Heterogeneous Integration of Doped Crystalline Zirconium Oxide for Photonic Applications

Hybrid integration of new materials will play a key role in the next photonics revolution, unlocking the development of advanced devices with outstanding performances and innovative functionalities. Functional oxides, thanks to the richness of their physical properties are promising candidates to build active reconfigurable elements in complex circuits. We review in this article our recent work regarding the hybrid integration of Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ), a crystalline oxide with transparency from the visible to the mid-IR range with refractive index of about 2.15. YSZ is mostly studied for its high ionic conductivity, epitaxial growth on Si as buffer layer and its chemical stability but we demonstrated that it also holds a great potential in photonics for the development of low-loss waveguides ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$&lt; $</tex-math></inline-formula> 2 dB/cm) and complex passive structures. Kerr refractive index of YSZ is in the same order of magnitude than well-known nonlinear materials such as silicon nitride. We explored the implementation of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Er^{3+}$</tex-math></inline-formula> ions as an active element providing outstanding luminescence in correspondence with C-band of telecommunications. The optical properties of active layers of Er-doped YSZ grown on waveguides in different platforms and under resonant pumping and its propagation losses, modal gain and signal enhancement will be discussed in this paper.

Liquid-based materials

With the rapid development of science and technology, the synergistic integration of new materials and technologies has become the support and guarantee of many emerging industries. Due to the higher requirements for the intelligent and durability of materials, single component or single-phase materials have been far from meeting the needs of practical applications. For example, solid materials can provide stable mechanical structures, but it is difficult to achieve a large-scale rapid dynamic response. Liquid materials have the property of rapid dynamic response, but they also have strong fluidity and are very difficult to be used as structural materials. In this Perspective, we present a framework and a path forward for developing and designing ‘liquid-based materials’ from compounded solid and liquid by comprehensively using new concepts, new theories, and new technologies, which will bring many dynamic properties, specific structures, and functions to materials, further expand the design ideas and application scope of advanced materials, promote the cross-disciplinary development of materials science, physics, chemistry, engineering, biomedicine, and other disciplines, and help advances in the development of new materials. The challenges and prospects for developing liquid-based materials in the future are also discussed.

A Feasible Alternative to FDSOI and FinFET: Optimization of W/La2O3/Si Planar PMOS with 14 nm Gate-Length.

At the 90-nm node, the rate of transistor miniaturization slows down due to challenges in overcoming the increased leakage current (Ioff). The invention of high-k/metal gate technology at the 45-nm technology node was an enormous step forward in extending Moore’s Law. The need to satisfy performance requirements and to overcome the limitations of planar bulk transistor to scales below 22 nm led to the development of fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FDSOI) and fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) technologies. The 28-nm wafer planar process is the most cost-effective, and scaling towards the sub-10 nm technology node involves the complex integration of new materials (Ge, III-V, graphene) and new device architectures. To date, planar transistors still command >50% of the transistor market and applications. This work aims to downscale a planar PMOS to a 14-nm gate length using La2O3 as the high-k dielectric material. The device was virtually fabricated and electrically characterized using SILVACO. Taguchi L9 and L27 were employed to study the process parameters’ variability and interaction effects to optimize the process parameters to achieve the required output. The results obtained from simulation using the SILVACO tool show good agreement with the nominal values of PMOS threshold voltage (Vth) of −0.289 V ± 12.7% and Ioff of less than 10−7 A/µm, as projected by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). Careful control of SiO2 formation at the Si interface and rapid annealing processing are required to achieve La2O3 thermal stability at the target equivalent oxide thickness (EOT). The effects of process variations on Vth, Ion and Ioff were investigated. The improved voltage scaling resulting from the lower Vth value is associated with the increased Ioff due to the improved drain-induced barrier lowering as the gate length decreases. The performance of the 14-nm planar bulk PMOS is comparable to the performance of the FDSOI and FinFET technologies at the same gate length. The comparisons made with ITRS, the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS), and the simulated and experimental data show good agreement and thus prove the validity of the developed model for PMOSs. Based on the results demonstrated, planar PMOSs could be a feasible alternative to FDSOI and FinFET in balancing the trade-off between performance and cost in the 14-nm process.

Sensitive Materials and Coating Technologies for Surface Acoustic Wave Sensors

Since their development, surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices have attracted much research attention due to their unique functional characteristics, which make them appropriate for the detection of chemical species. The scientific community has directed its efforts toward the development and integration of new materials as sensing elements in SAW sensor technology with a large area of applications, such as for example the detection of volatile organic compounds, warfare chemicals, or food spoilage, just to name a few. Thin films play an important role and are essential as recognition elements in sensor structures due to their wide range of capabilities. In addition, other requisites are the development and application of new thin film deposition techniques as well as the possibility to tune the size and properties of the materials. This review article surveys the latest progress in engineered complex materials, i.e., polymers or functionalized carbonaceous materials, for applications as recognizing elements in miniaturized SAW sensors. It starts with an overview of chemoselective polymers and the synthesis of functionalized carbon nanotubes and graphene, which is followed by surveys of various coating technologies and routes for SAW sensors. Different coating techniques for SAW sensors are highlighted, which provides new approaches and perspective to meet the challenges of sensitive and selective gas sensing.

Fabrication and Materials Integration of Flexible Humidity Sensors for Emerging Applications.

In the past decade, humidity measurements have ubiquitously gained consideration in the wide range of application paradigms such as industrial predictive maintenance, instrumentation, automation, agriculture, climate monitoring, healthcare, and semiconductor industries. Accurate humidity measurements and cost-effective fabrication processes for large-volume and high-performance sensors with flexible form factors are essential to meet the stringent performance requirements of the emerging application areas. To address this need, recent efforts focus on development of innovative sensing modalities, process technologies, and exploration and integration of new materials to enable low-cost, robust, and flexible humidity sensors with ultrahigh sensitivity and linearity, large dynamic range, low hysteresis, and fast response time. In this review paper, we present an overview of flexible humidity sensors based on distinct sensing mechanisms, employed processing techniques, and various functional sensing layers and substrate materials for specific applications. Furthermore, we present the critical device design parameters considered to be indicative of sensor performance such as relative humidity range, along with a discussion on some of the specific applications and use cases.

Optical Grating Techniques for MEMS-Based Spectrometer—A Review

This paper examined the innovations of the spectrometers for the measurement of consistency based parameters of the handheld Micro Electronic Mechanical System (MEMS) Spectrometer. Fast, highly sensitive, miniature spectroscopy techniques empowered quick, savvy and effective measures for various applications. In the light spectroscopy-based identification and quantification, advances in the field of wavelength discrimination are significant and essential. The identification of grid parameters and limiting conditions are necessary for the design and fabrication of diffraction gratings, for the spectrometer. This work evaluates the emerging trends in Micro-Spectrometer's Grating Techniques, focusing on the aspects of grating parameters and the recent developments of grating. The main parameters for evaluating the performance of a grating have been reviewed and found that grating efficiency, groove density, free spectral range and resolving power play a significant part in the grating performance. The fabrication technique employed as well as the materials used in the fabrication process, play a significant role in the efficiency of the grating. Silicon, Silicon dioxide (SiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> ), Glass (Silica glass), Poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA), Chromium and Silicon nitride(Si <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> N <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4</sub> ) are the most used materials. The integration of new materials that are ideal for the state-of-the-art semiconductor industry techniques for MEMS fabrication along with a new blazing structure would increase the efficiency of the grating.

Microfluidic Platforms toward Rational Material Fabrication for Biomedical Applications.

The emergence of micro/nanomaterials in recent decades has brought promising alternative approaches in various biomedicine-related fields such as pharmaceutics, diagnostics, and therapeutics. These micro/nanomaterials for specific biomedical applications shall possess tailored properties and functionalities that are closely correlated to their geometries, structures, and compositions, therefore placing extremely high demands for manufacturing techniques. Owing to the superior capabilities in manipulating fluids and droplets at microscale, microfluidics has offered robust and versatile platform technologies enabling rational design and fabrication of micro/nanomaterials with precisely controlled geometries, structures and compositions in high throughput manners, making them excellent candidates for a variety of biomedical applications. This review briefly summarizes the progress of microfluidics in the fabrication of various micro/nanomaterials ranging from 0D (particles), 1D (fibers) to 2D/3D (film and bulk materials) materials with controllable geometries, structures, and compositions. The applications of these microfluidic-based materials in the fields of diagnostics, drug delivery, organs-on-chips, tissue engineering, and stimuli-responsive biodevices are introduced. Finally, an outlook is discussed on the future direction of microfluidic platforms for generating materials with superior properties and on-demand functionalities. The integration of new materials and techniques with microfluidics will pave new avenues for preparing advanced micro/nanomaterials with enhanced performance for biomedical applications.

Teaching Practice-Based Learning on Inpatient Psychiatric Services.

Psychiatry residents must learn to incorporate new information into clinical practice as the field quickly evolves. The authors developed a practice-based workshop grounded in active learning principles on the inpatient psychiatric unit. Residents rotating on inpatient services observed a patient interview, then brainstormed learner-driven learning objectives. They each independently researched selected topics, then utilized peer instruction and discussion grounded in the clinical case. Topic areas covered over a year were tracked and residents' experiences were surveyed. The material covered included evidence-based treatments, neuroscience, cultural, and systems psychiatry. Residents rated the workshop as highly effective and engaging (91% and 96%, respectively, on Likert Scale) and positively on the Tutorial Group Effectiveness Instrument (3.8 ± 0.6 for cognitive aspects, 3.2 ± 0.7 for motivational aspects, and 2.7 ± 0.6 for demotivational aspects). This case-based and learner-driven peer teaching model based on an active learning model allows for quick integration of new material into the curriculum with resident satisfaction.

Micromachined Resonators for Sensing System Applications

In this presentation we will explore the phenomenon of resonance in electrical, mechanical, optical and acoustic domains for sensing applications. The field of micro and nano sensors has rapidly evolved over the last couple of decades with many of the highest performance devices exploiting the phenomenon of resonance for sensing. Micro and nano scale resonator designs, fabrication, and integration of new materials offer unique opportunities for innovative, novel, and robust configurations impacting all aspects of sensor systems. The methods of coupling the resonator to the measurand will be discussed and example sensors for stress, infrared, and rotation (gyroscopic) applications will be presented. Important design considerations such as resonator geometry, the Q-factor, nonlinear behavior, power consumption and packaging will be analyzed. Furthermore, piezoelectric microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonant sensors are well known for their excellent mass resolution and have been studied for many applications, including DNA hybridization, protein–ligand interactions, and immunosensor development. And more recently, optical resonant microsensors with high sensitivity have been successfully demonstrated. These advances have allowed for miniaturization and cost-effective manufacturing of such optical resonant sensor devices. Furthermore, chip-scale integration of microfluidics with optics has enabled analyte preparation and delivery for optical interrogation by such sensing structures. The feedback mechanism based on microring, microtoroid and microdisk have been employed for shaping resonant transmission or reflection spectrum to improve spectral resolution. The presentation will conclude with a review the operation and performance of the first MEM-based zero-power wake-up receiver are described. This device uses the high quality factor of a MEM-device to achieve extremely low power sensitivity (-60 dBm at 750 MHz) without consuming power.

A fuzzy set model for assessment of a perspectives level for integration of new materials in industrial enterprise processes

The definition of effective improvement vectors is currently one of the most pressing challenges facing the industry representatives. The transition to the sixth technological mode effectively contributes to competition intensification in all markets of industrial products. This is largely due to the fact that existing process systems are at the peak of their effectiveness. Further development requires qualitative changes. However, the principal improvement is a long-term and high-risk process. For this reason the issue of creating effective models for assessment of the strategic lines of processes improvement becomes increasingly important for industrial enterprises. This article considers in details the vector of industrial enterprise processes improvement based on the integration of new materials. As a result, a model allowing to assess a perspectives level for integration of new materials in industrial enterprise processes is created.

Wet and Siconi® cleaning sequences for SiGe p-type metal oxide semiconductor channels

The low temperature integration of new materials (such as SiGe channels for the holes) is mandatory in advanced metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (i.e. in 14nm technology node devices and beyond). In this paper, we have investigated the removal of SiGe oxides prior to Selective epitaxial Growth of Si or SiGe:B in Sources/Drains regions. A very efficient removal of contaminants (C, F, O…) is mandatory if the H2 bake that precedes epitaxy is removed because of thermal budget constraints. As germanium is very reactive in the air, in-situ surface preparation schemes (conducted for instance in a Siconi® chamber) might be useful on SiGe surfaces. This way, the queue-time issues associated with “HF-Last” (HF/HCl follow by deionization water rinse) processes in single wafer wet cleaning tools are avoided. Germanium-rich SiGe layers (Si0.6Ge0.4) were used to characterize the native oxide removal efficiency of “HF-Last” and Siconi® processes. Then, a new surface preparation strategy was developed based on i) a wet chemical oxide formation followed by ii) a standard Siconi® process whose efficiency towards SiO2 has conclusively been demonstrated. Parallel Angle Resolved X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy was used to study the chemical composition of the native or chemical oxide and evaluate the efficiency of that treatment on carbon, germanium oxide and silicon oxide.

A fast hybrid methodology based on machine learning, quantum methods, and experimental measurements for evaluating material properties

We present a hybrid approach based on both machine learning and targeted ab-initio calculations to determine adhesion energies between dissimilar materials. The goals of this approach are to complement experimental and/or all ab-initio computational efforts, to identify promising materials rapidly and identify in a quantitative manner the relative contributions of the different material attributes affecting adhesion. Applications of the methodology to predict bulk modulus, yield strength, adhesion and wetting properties of copper (Cu) with other materials including metals, nitrides and oxides is discussed in this paper. In the machine learning component of this methodology, the parameters that were chosen can be roughly divided into four types: atomic and crystalline parameters (which are related to specific elements such as electronegativities, electron densities in Wigner-Seitz cells); bulk material properties (e.g. melting point), mechanical properties (e.g. modulus) and those representing atomic characteristics in ab-initio formalisms (e.g. pseudopotentials). The atomic parameters are defined over one dataset to determine property correlation with published experimental data. We then develop a semi-empirical model across multiple datasets to predict adhesion in material interfaces outside the original datasets. Since adhesion is between two materials, we appropriately use parameters which indicate differences between the elements that comprise the materials. These semi-empirical predictions agree reasonably with the trend in chemical work of adhesion predicted using ab-initio techniques and are used for fast materials screening. For the screened candidates, the ab-initio modeling component provides fundamental understanding of the chemical interactions at the interface, and explains the wetting thermodynamics of thin Cu layers on various substrates. Comparison against ultra-high vacuum (UHV) experiments for well-characterized Cu/Ta and Cu/α-Al2O3 interfaces is also discussed. The new hybrid methodology can be applied to effectively and rapidly screen material options for further investigation, and provide a tractable list for experiments to accelerate optimization and integration of new materials in microelectronics. Our unique hybrid methodology lays a framework for using a combination of experimental and computational simulations to estimate properties for faster screening of materials.

A Conrad Chronology by Owen Knowles

Reviewed by: A Conrad Chronology by Owen Knowles Anthony Fothergill (bio) Owen Knowles. A Conrad Chronology. 2nd edition. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. xxi + 243 pp. ISBN: 9781137452382. This second edition of Owen Knowles's A Conrad Chronology is part of the Palgrave Macmillan series under the General Editorship of Norman Page, a series that includes volumes on Milton, James, Wilde, Joyce, and Beckett. The series has proved to be a rich resource both for scholars and general readers of English and American literature, and Knowles's new edition may well prove to be the jewel in the crown. Exemplary in the thoroughness and precision of its scholarship, deft in its incorporation of biographical color, it is destined to become an indispensable companion for all serious readers of Conrad's work. Since the publication of the first edition of A Conrad Chronology in 1989, a great deal of new material on Conrad's life has become available. The Collected Letters (Cambridge University Press) now amounts to nine volumes, the [End Page 297] formidable Cambridge Edition of the Works to some dozen volumes. In addition, there is much to be gleaned from the four volumes of Joseph Conrad: The Contemporary Reviews. Knowles has thoroughly assimilated this new material. Unsurprisingly, his second edition is at least a quarter longer than the first, the extra pages being made up partly by far fuller entries for the earliest years (for Knowles, 1857–73), the years Conrad spent at sea (1874–93), and the "Writing Years" (1894–1924). Indeed, for the latter, we are indebted to Knowles for some newly discovered Conrad letters, which he and John Stapes have edited and published in The Conradian in recent years. Yet what the second edition achieves has not come about by the integration of new material in any simple way. Chronology and biography are overlapping genres, the former necessarily in dialogue with the latter. We might say that a chronology records the date-by-date accumulation of facts, avoiding explicit interpretation of the data, while biography entails the fusion of facts into narrative, a process that inevitably involves surmise. For a chronologist, the main task consists of assessing the relevance of a fact—but only after deciding what actually constitutes a fact (a problem to which I will return). A chronology offers the accumulation of facts, placed in juxtaposition; but not, as such, a continuous explanatory narrative. The distinction between biography and chronology becomes clear when we read the introduction to Zdzisław Najder's Joseph Conrad: A Chronicle, which is in fact a biography, or Stapes's 2007 essay "On Conrad Biography as Fine Art." Najder points out what Stape repeats: that biographers have to fall back on words like "maybe," "perhaps," "might be the case." These words—which Stape tellingly calls "those weary crutches of the biographer"—are the bridges that allow the construction of narrative continuities between "facts" and the interpretation of facts. We might note the growing number of "Lives" Conrad posthumously enjoyed over the last decades: Frederick Karl's Joseph Conrad: The Three Lives (1979), Najder's A Chronicle (1983), Stape's The Several Lives of Joseph Conrad (2007), Elmar Schenkel's Fahrt ins Geheimnis: Joseph Conrad, Eine Biographie (2007) and, most recently, a popular biography of sorts, Maya Jasanoff's The Dawn Watch (2017). All of these demonstrate variously subtle differentiations in emphasis and propose ever more complex narrative arcs, while depending upon a familiar three-part structure for the phases of Conrad's life: "development" to "major achievement" to "decline." (This is a powerful tripartite trope such as critics jokingly applied to Henry James as "James the First, James the Second, and James the Old Pretender.") It is a model which some recent sensitive readers of Conrad have declined; Philip Hensher, for instance, contests the notion of Conrad's "decline" by arguing, against the critical consensus, that Chance is a successful, highly accomplished novel. Knowles himself meticulously records how these [End Page 298] later years follow trajectories colored by major novelistic achievements, increasing illness and depression, fraught financial worries and then, unusual for Conrad, financial and public success. In particular there are more, new precise details and dates of births...

Facilitating the selection and creation of accurate interatomic potentials with robust tools and characterization

The Materials Genome Initiative seeks to significantly decrease the cost and time of development and integration of new materials. Within the domain of atomistic simulations, several roadblocks stand in the way of reaching this goal. While the NIST Interatomic Potentials Repository hosts numerous interatomic potentials (force fields), researchers cannot immediately determine the best choice(s) for their use case. Researchers developing new potentials, specifically those in restricted environments, lack a comprehensive portfolio of efficient tools capable of calculating and archiving the properties of their potentials. This paper elucidates one solution to these problems, which uses Python-based scripts that are suitable for rapid property evaluation and human knowledge transfer. Calculation results are visible on the repository website, which reduces the time required to select an interatomic potential for a specific use case. Furthermore, property evaluation scripts are being integrated with modern platforms to improve discoverability and access of materials property data. To demonstrate these scripts and features, we will discuss the automation of stacking fault energy calculations and their application to additional elements. While the calculation methodology was developed previously, we are using it here as a case study in simulation automation and property calculations. We demonstrate how the use of Python scripts allows for rapid calculation in a more easily managed way where the calculations can be modified, and the results presented in user-friendly and concise ways. Additionally, the methods can be incorporated into other efforts, such as openKIM.

Combining Novel Modes of Action for Early-Season Management ofBemisia tabaci(Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus in Tomato

Management of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) in Florida tomato involves destroying inoculum sources, using reflective mulches to repel the vector, growing TYLCV-tolerant varieties, and using insecticidal control. Three new insecticides with distinct modes of action were evaluated for management of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) and the whitefly-transmitted TYLCV. Chemicals were applied in paired combinations during the first 5 weeks after transplanting. Flupyradifurone (Sivanto) and cyantraniliprole (Cyazypyr™) are systemic insecticides that can be applied to soil or foliage and pyrifluquinazon is a translaminar material for foliar application. In order to determine optimal combination of chemicals with different modes of action for early-season whitefly control and virus suppression, systemic materials were soil-applied at-plant followed by foliar applications of a material with a distinct mode of action. Dinotefuran (Venom) was included as a standard at-plant material for comparison. Field trials were carried out using a split plot design with insecticide programs as main plot treatments which were split into plots covered under a floating row cover for the first 2 weeks after planting or left uncovered. The intention of the row cover treatment was to compare the degree of protection offered by at-plant treatments when the crop was exposed to virus immediately after transplanting to exposure two weeks after transplanting, and to determine if any at-plant treatment were comparable to mechanical exclusion of the vector. In fall 2012, when virus pressure was moderate, end of season virus incidence was lower than the untreated control in all chemical treatments except dinotefuran drench alone or followed by cyantraniliprole. Percentage virus in these 2 treatments were not significantly different from the untreated plots as of 5 weeks after transplanting in both fall trials (2012 and 2013). During both fall trials, percent virus was numerically lowest each week in either the flupyradifurone or flupyradifurone followed by pyrifluquinazon treatments, although the differences from other treatments were not always statistically significant. In spring 2013, when virus pressure was negligible, yield was higher in plots treated with dinotefuran followed by cyantraniliprole than in other treated plots, with the exception of flupyradifurone followed by cyantraniliprole. Row cover treatments were only partially successful, and did not indicate that any at-plant treatment was comparable to mechanical exclusion of the vector. Integration of new materials into insecticide recommendations and resistance management plans for Florida tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) production are discussed.