Investigation of the non-Arrhenius behavior of fast ion conducting glasses

Traditional glassy ion conductors exhibit Arrhenius temperature dependence of the d.c. conductivity. Recently, Kinc and Martin1 reported the discovery of a Fast Ion Conducting (FIC) glass with ionic conductivities as high as 10-2 (O-cm)-1. Surprisingly, while this is a very high conductivity for a glassy material, it is still several orders of magnitude lower than that predicted by the low temperature Arrhenius behavior. While Kinc and Martin did a through investigation of these materials at low temperatures, they did not explore the room temperature and above behavior. They proposed a simple model to explain their observed non-Arrhenius ionic conductivity, but the full study of the behavior was not been made.;Several researchers have since attempted to explain the cause of the behavior observed by Kinc and Martin; however, no conclusive evidence has been given for the true origin of this behavior. Most of the models have been purely mathematical fits, with no basis in the physical world. Other researchers simply write off the observed behavior as a fluke of crystallized or phase separated samples. The present investigation looks at the high temperature behavior of the same glass compositions that Kinc and Martin looked at to determine if there is ionic conductivity saturation or perhaps even an ionic conductivity maximum. This work goes on to develop a theory that explains the observed results in a physical manner that is based on current knowledge ionic conductors and glass structure.;1Kincs, J., Martin, S. W., Phys. Rev. Let., 76, 70--7

Common Ground: Uniting Archaeology and Secondary Social Studies Curricula

Archaeologists have been attempting to establish stronger connections with communities for several decades. Concepts such as stewardship can be presented to a larger audience, and archaeology can be a valuable tool for public education. Public schools across the nation are struggling to improve with limited resources. Archaeology can provide teachers with inexpensive resources that improve student learning while simultaneously helping teachers meet more rigorous standards. Using historical, archaeological, and cultural resources from the World War II Japanese American internment camp, Amache, I created a new supplementary curriculum that focused on the experience of Japanese and Japanese Americans during that era. This thesis presents that curriculum and an accompanying case study that introduced archaeologically based activities in a secondary social studies classroom. Analysis of student responses indicates that supplementing with archaeology had no adverse effects to student exam scores on overall WWII history. In addition many students felt more connected to former Amache internees and their experience

On the Witt groups of schemes

We consider two questions about the Witt groups of schemes: the first is the question of finite generation of the shifted Witt groups of a smooth variety over a finite field; the second is the Gersten conjecture. Regarding the first, we prove that the shifted Witt groups of curves and surfaces are finite, and that finite generation of the motivic cohomology groups with mod 2 coefficients implies finite generation of the Witt groups. Regarding the second, we prove the Gersten conjecture for the Witt groups in the case of a local ring that is essentially smooth over a discrete valuation ring (DVR) having infinite residue field. We deduce from this the case of a local ring that is regular over such a DVR

The incidence of lupinosis in sheep grazing Phomopsis-resistant lupin stubbles

Lupinosis is one of the major diseases of grazing livestock in Western Australia. It occurs when animals graze lupin stubble containing toxins produced by the fungus Phomopsis leptostromiformis. The Department of Agriculture has recently released new cultivars of Lupinus angustifolius which are more resistant to colonization by Phomopsis, and therefore develop less toxicity, than those previously available (Cowling et al. 1988). The new cultivars - Gungurru and Yorrel - are called Phomopsis-resistant, however their resistance is only moderate. The old cultivars are referred to as Phomopsis-susceptible