We present details of on-wafer-level 16-term error model calibration kits used for the characterization of W-band circuits based on a grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW). These circuits were fabricated on a thin gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrate, and via holes, were utilized to ensure single mode propagation (i.e., eliminating the parallel-plate mode or surface mode). To ensure the accuracy of the definition for the calibration kits, multi-line thru-reflect-line (MTRL) assistant standards were also fabricated on the same wafer and measured. The same wafer also contained passive and active devices, which were measured subject to both 16-term and conventional line-reflect-reflect-match calibrations. Measurement results show that 16-term calibration kits are capable of determining the cross-talk more accurately. Other typical calibration techniques were also implemented using the standards on the GCPW calibration kits, and were compared with the MTRL calibration using a passive device under test. This revealed that the proposed GCPW GaAs calibration substrate could be a feasible alternative to conventional CPW impedance standard substrates, for on-wafer measurements at W-band and above.

We present recent experiments using a Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm and the polarised radiative transfer code COSSAM to produce a new ZDM code. Currently the code is able to recover the magnetic parameters of model stars with either a decentred dipole morphology or a morphology consisting of a centred dipole and a quadrupole, while simultaneously calculating multiple chemical abundances (including a basic stratification model). The ZDM code has been tested using both synthetic spectra and real, well studied stars. Additional features are currently being added such as a multipole morphology of arbitrary order and more sophisticated chemical stratification models.

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a plant hormone that regulates seed dormancy and germination. Seeds undergo changes in both ABA content and sensitivity during seed development and germination in response to internal and external cues. Recent advances in functional genomics have revealed the integral components involved in ABA metabolism (biosynthesis and catabolism) and perception, the core signalling pathway, as well as the factors that trigger ABA-mediated transcription. These allow for comparative studies to be conducted on seeds under different environmental conditions and from different genetic backgrounds. This review summarizes our understanding of the control of ABA content and the responsiveness of seeds to afterripening, light, high temperature and nitrate, with a focus on which tissues are involved in its metabolism and signalling. Also described are the regulators of ABA metabolism and signalling, which potentially act as the node for hormone crosstalk. Integration of such knowledge into the complex and diverse events occurring during seed germination will be the next challenge, which will allow for a clearer understanding of the role of ABA.

The explanatory model of cross-cultural miscommunication, or crosstalk, is extended here through a multi-feature, multi-dimensional analysis of Soviet and American speakers' discourse in two three-hour audio/video “spacebridge” meetings. The study demonstrates that variation between speakers' uses of co-occurring sets of lexical and syntactic features can contribute to crosstalk. Crosstalk is shown to be functionally motivated by interlocutors' different constructions of the speech-event context and norms of interpretation.

A factor analysis of lexical and syntactic features in spacebridge participants' discourse identifies two main dimensions of stylistic variation; use of the sets of co-occurring features that constitute these dimensions are interpreted as performing different discourse functions, and thereby indexing different aspects of the speech-event context. Soviet floor turns that exhibit the greatest stylistic divergence from American stylistic behavior and expectations are shown to correlate with communicative breakdowns in the spacebridges, and thereby to contribute to crosstalk. The analysis suggests that, at some level, stylistic contextualization cues are quantitatively “analyzed” in real time by discourse participants, and it demonstrates some of the explanatory potential of quantitative modeling of complex indexical processes such as stylistic accommodation, divergence, and opposition. I wish to thank Doug Biber, Elinor Ochs, and Barbara Johnstone for invaluable feedback on this study.