© 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd.The compound La2-2xSr1+2xMn2O7, x = 0.30 – 0.40, consists of bilayers of ferromagnetic metallic MnO2 sheets that are separated by insulating layers. The materials show colossal magnetoresistance – a reduction in resistivity of up to two orders of magnitude in a field of 7 T – at their three-dimensional ordering temperatures, TC = 90 K – 126 K, and are the layered analogues of the widely studied pseudo-cubic perovskite manganites, R1 xAxMnO3 (R = rare earth, A = Ca, Sr, Ba, Pb). Two distinct short-range orderings – antiferromagnetic fluctuations and correlated polarons, which are related to the magnetic and the lattice degrees of freedom respectively – have previously been discovered in La2 2xSr1+2xMn2O7, x = 0.40, and have each been qualitatively connected to the resistivity. Here, in a comprehensive study as a function of both temperature and magnetic field for the different hole-concentrations per Mn site of x = 0.30 and 0.35, we show that antiferromagnetic fluctuations also appear at temperatures just above TC, and that the intensities of both the antiferromagnetic fluctuations and polaron correlations closely track the resistivity. In particular, for x = 0.35 we show that there is a simple scaling relation between the intensities of the antiferromagnetic fluctuations and the in-plane resistivity that applies for the temperatures and magnetic fields used in the experiments. The results show that antiferromagnetic fluctuations are a common feature of La2 2xSr1+2xMn2O7 with ferromagnetic bilayers, and that there is a close connection between the antiferromagnetic fluctuations and polarons in these materials. © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd.OBJECTIVE The rapidly developing paradigm of closed-loop neuroscience has extensively employed brain rhythms as the signal forming real-time neurofeedback, triggering brain stimulation, or governing stimulus selection. However, the efficacy of brain rhythm contingent paradigms suffers from significant delays related to the process of extraction of oscillatory parameters from broad-band neural signals with conventional methods. To this end, real-time algorithms are needed that would shorten the delay while maintaining an acceptable speed-accuracy trade-off. APPROACH Here we evaluated a family of techniques based on the application of the least-squares complex-valued filter (LSCF) design to real-time quantification of brain rhythms. These techniques allow for explicit optimization of the speed-accuracy trade-off when quantifying oscillatory patterns. We used EEG data collected from 10 human participants to systematically compare LSCF approach to the other commonly used algorithms. Each method being evaluated was optimized by scanning through the grid of its hyperparameters using independent data samples. MAIN RESULTS When applied to the task of estimating oscillatory envelope and phase, the LSCF techniques outperformed in speed and accuracy both conventional Fourier transform and rectification based methods as well as more advanced techniques such as those that exploit autoregressive extrapolation of narrow-band filtered signals. When operating at zero latency, the weighted LSCF approach yielded 75\% accuracy when detecting alpha-activity episodes, as defined by the amplitude crossing of the 95th-percentile threshold. SIGNIFICANCE The LSCF approaches are easily applicable to low-delay quantification of brain rhythms. As such, these methods are useful in a variety of neurofeedback, brain-computer-interface and other experimental paradigms that require rapid monitoring of brain rhythms. © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd.We present a proof of an exact equivalence of the two approaches that are most used in computing conductance in quantum electron and phonon transport the wave function matching and Green’s functions methods. We can obtain all the quantities defined in one method starting from those obtained in the other. This completes and illuminates the work started Ando[Ando T 1991 Phys. Rev. B 44 8017] and continued later by Komyakov et al.[Khomyakov P A, Brocks G, Karpan V, Zwierzycki M and Kelly P J 2005 Phys. Rev. B 72 035450]. The aim is to allow for solving the transport problem with whichever approach fits most the system at hand. One major corollary of the proven equivalence is our derivation of a generalized Fisher-Lee formula for resolving the transmission function into individual phonon mode contributions. As an illustration, we applied our method to a simple model to highlight its accuracy and simplicity. © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd.This work presents the development of a MEMS nanoindenter that uses exchangeable AFM probes for quasi-static nanomechanical characterization of compliant and ultra-compliant materials. While the electrostatic micro-force transducer of the MEMS nanoindenter provides a maximum indentation depth up to 9.5 µm with a maximum output force of 600 µN, experimental investigations reveal that it can achieve a depth and force resolution better than 4 pm/sqrt(Hz) and 0.3 nN/sqrt(Hz), in air for f ≥ 1 Hz. A passive AFM probe gripper is integrated into the MEMS nanoindenter, allowing the nanoindenter to utilize various AFM probes as an indenter for material testing. A proof-of-principle experimental setup has been built to investigate the performance of the MEMS nanoindenter prototype. In proof-of-principle experiments, the prototype with a clamped diamond AFM probe successfully identified an atomic step (~0.31 nm) within a Si ultraflat sample using the scanning probe microscopy mode. see more The nanomechanical measurement capability of the MEMS nanoindenter prototype has been verified by means of measurements of reference polymer samples using a silicon AFM probe and by means of measurements of the elastic properties of a PDMS sample using a spherical diamond-coated AFM probe. Owing to its compact and low-cost but high-resolution capacitive readout system, this MEMS nanoindenter head can be further applied for in-situ quantitative nanomechanical measurements in AFMs and SEMs. Creative Commons Attribution license.Polyethylene terephthalate based nanocomposites with hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets were prepared by solution casting method with varying concentration of BNNs from 0.5wt% to 4wt%. Melting and crystallization behaviour of the composites were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, which suggest that with increasing presence of nanosheets, the crystallinity increases and hence the polyethylene terephthalate chain mobility gets restricted which leads to suppression of crystal growth. The nanoindentation measurements on the composite films exhibit improved mechanical properties. Enhancement of 33.3 % of elastic modulus and 32.4 % of hardness was observed with 2wt% infusion of boron nitride nanosheets in polyethylene terephthalate. © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd.