Incorporation of directionally dependent diffusion with polymer composite flow theory

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 23, 2007)Includes bibliographical references.Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2006.Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Mathematics.The extensive industrial use of short-fiber reinforced polymer composites demands an accurate understanding of fiber orientation kinematics. There is a growing concern in recent literature with the popular Folgar and Tucker (1984) model for the transient fiber orientation analysis. As the reliability and repeatability of the material behavior from the fabrication procedure advances, the demand for accurate models for use in design processes beyond the current methods has become increasingly important. A model to incorporate the directional nature of fiber interactions through the introduction of directional diffusion is presented, and the fiber orientation tensor flow equations are developed based upon the directional diffusion model. The model satisfies the desired characteristics, both to decrease fiber alignment rates and steady state orientation results at the cost of requiring orientation tensors up to the tenth-order. Future work will incorporate experimental results with the proposed model to produce acceptable results for industrial applications

UM MUNDO ALÉM DO HUMANO

From an initial project to investigate the relationship between magic and traditional medicine as practiced by shamans in Southern rural Asia, the focus of attention gradually shifted to an awareness of the negotiation traditional medicine people or shamans exert between the human community and the larger community of beings. This attentiveness to a more-than-human world does not occur at a supernatural domain above nature or inside her personal self but is the result of the shaman’s special ability to project her consciousness horizontally to other forms of sensibility with which human existence is interwoven. The ecological function of the shaman is to maintain a constant balance between what is taken and what is given from the human community to the larger community. The spirits of indigenous cultures are not defined in opposition to materiality but are essentially those modes of intelligence or awareness that do not possess a human form. By exploring different landscapes, and the sensibility living in them, a new sensitivity is awoken that allows for communication with those intelligences. However, the drowning of these other voices in Western culture, which reduces otherness to an object, creates an uneasiness that is hardly perceived except as an inability to interact with anything more-than-human and its dire consequences in the form of “civilization’s” destructive behavior.A partir de um projeto inicial que visava investigar a relação entre a mágica e a medicina tradicional conforme praticada pelos xamãs tradicionais das regiões rurais do sul da Ásia, o enfoque passou gradativamente para uma atenção à negociação que as pessoas da medicina ou xamãs estabelecem entre a comunidade humana e a comunidade mais ampla de seres. Essa atenção ao mundo além do humano não ocorre em um domínio supernatural acima da natureza ou dentro da psiquê pessoal do xamã, porém é o resultado da habilidade especial do xamã de projetar sua consciência horizontalmente am direção a outras formas de sensibilidade com as quais a existência humana está entrelaçada. A função ecológica do xamã consiste em manter um equilíbrio constante entre o que é retirado e o que é dado de volta para a comunidade mais ampla. Os espíritos das culturas indígenas não são definidos em oposição à materialidade, mas são essencialmente aqueles modos de inteligência ou atenção que não possuem forma humana. Ao explorar paisagens diferentes e as inteligências que nelas vivem, uma nova sensibilidade despertou, permitindo a comunicação com aquelas inteligências. Entretanto, o abafamento dessas outras vozes na cultura ocidental, que reduz o outro a um objeto, produz um mal-estar que dificilmente é percebido a não ser como uma incapacidade de interagir com tudo além do humano e suas consequências na forma do comportamento destrutivo da “civilização”

Theoretical model of the dynamic spin polarization of nuclei coupled to paramagnetic point defects in diamond and silicon carbide

Dynamic nuclear spin polarization (DNP) mediated by paramagnetic point defects in semiconductors is a key resource for both initializing nuclear quantum memories and producing nuclear hyperpolarization. DNP is therefore an important process in the field of quantum-information processing, sensitivity-enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance, and nuclear-spin-based spintronics. DNP based on optical pumping of point defects has been demonstrated by using the electron spin of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond, and more recently, by using divacancy and related defect spins in hexagonal silicon carbide (SiC). Here, we describe a general model for these optical DNP processes that allows the effects of many microscopic processes to be integrated. Applying this theory, we gain a deeper insight into dynamic nuclear spin polarization and the physics of diamond and SiC defects. Our results are in good agreement with experimental observations and provide a detailed and unified understanding. In particular, our findings show that the defects' electron spin coherence times and excited state lifetimes are crucial factors in the entire DNP process

A state of freedom: a defence of perfectionist liberalism

This essay begins with the assumption that a liberal political morality is grounded upon two core ideals one, that the freedom to shape one's own life in accordance with one's reasonable beliefs about the good is constitutive of the ideal human life; and two, that the state ought to be in the business of securing this life-shaping freedom for its citizens. I argue that the endorsement of these ideals has perfectionist implications for a political morality. My central claim is that if the liberal state is committed to securing its citizens' life-shaping freedom, then it must actively and intentionally promote a definitive ideal of human flourishing. Accordingly, a liberal political morality is perfectionist insofar as it promotes an ideal of human flourishing; it is liberal insofar as that ideal is a distinctively liberal one. My argument proceeds in four stages. In Chapter II, I argue that a liberal political morality cannot remain neutral in the way that many liberals claim it must be. The consequence of this is that a liberal morality must be grounded upon a non-neutral moral ideal. In Chapter III, I argue that this non-neutral ideal must take citizens' positive liberty or what I am calling their life-shaping capabilities ÃÂÃÂseriously if it is to achieve its end of securing its citizens' life-shaping freedom. In Chapter IV, I present a theoretical framework intended to support the perfectionist element of my account. To do this, I propose a capabilities approach to well-being, which enables us to determine which capabilities are necessary for life-shaping freedom. In Chapter V, I address the inevitable worry that the state's enforcement of perfectionist political principles is likely to unjustifiably infringe upon its citizens'ÃÂÃÂ freedom. To alleviate this concern, I argue that any paternalistic interference justified by a capabilities approach actually enhances citizens' long-term freedom by preventing them from permanently forfeiting the necessary conditions of their freedom. Once this obstacle has been overcome, we will be free to embrace the perfectionist implications of our commitment to life-shaping freedom

High fidelity bi-directional nuclear qubit initialization in SiC

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is an attractive method for initializing nuclear spins that are strongly coupled to optically active electron spins because it functions at room temperature and does not require strong magnetic fields. In this Letter, we demonstrate that DNP, with near-unity polarization efficiency, can be generally realized in weakly coupled hybrid registers, and furthermore that the nuclear spin polarization can be completely reversed with only sub-Gauss magnetic field variations. This mechanism offers new avenues for DNP-based sensors and radio-frequency free control of nuclear qubits

The Principles of Social Order. Selected Essays of Lon L. Fuller, edited With an introduction by Kenneth I. Winston

The electron spins of semiconductor defects can have complex interactions with their host, particularly in polar materials like SiC where electrical and mechanical variables are intertwined. By combining pulsed spin resonance with ab initio simulations, we show that spin-spin interactions in 4H-SiC neutral divacancies give rise to spin states with a strong Stark effect, sub-10(-6) strain sensitivity, and highly spin-dependent photoluminescence with intensity contrasts of 15%-36%. These results establish SiC color centers as compelling systems for sensing nanoscale electric and strain fields