Denial of Speedy Trial - Mandamus for Dismissal: Smith v. Hooey

The Court reasoned that the timely assertion by defendant-petitioner of his constitutional right to a speedy trial gave rise to a corresponding duty on the part of the state to bring him to trial without undue delay.The Court rejected the state\u27s argument that Texas was, in this instance, free from Sixth Amendment constraints, observing that this argument was based on an erroneous conception of the nature of comity. Given the recognized right to a speedy trial, and given the corresponding duty on the part of the state to affirmatively secure that constitutional right, the breach of such a duty will result in the inability of the state to show cause why it should not grant a dismissal. This view of the case is reinforced by the concurring opinions of Justices White and Harlan

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationGene therapy offers an alternative therapeutic approach for a variety of diseases and genetic disorders that conventional therapies currently manage. In order to clinically advance this therapeutic alternative, more safe and efficient gene delivery vehicles must be continuously developed. To date, the development of safe and efficient gene delivery reagents for clinical application is hampered by undefined design and formulation requirements. In an attempt to further elucidate these requirements for improved gene delivery reagents, research labs often engineer and study many putative products that possess subtle physiochemical differences that may influence carrier function and biological activity. The synthesis of many putative gene delivery reagents, however, requires multiple optimization cycles for each product, is time-intensive, laborious and costly. As such, the intent of this dissertation is to implement a method that facilitates evaluation ease of novel, modified gene delivery reagents by avoiding the synthesis of many putative products for the identification of optimal candidates and reagent properties. This method uses mixtures of a promising nonviral gene delivery reagent and its modified counterpart, whereby the relative amount of each species in the formulation mixture is easily controlled, and thus, physiochemical differences and their influence on biological activity can be studied to identify optimal reagent candidates. The initial part of this dissertation focuses on the chemical modification of a previously published and flourishing non-viral, polycationic gene delivery vehicle, poly(triethylenetetramine/cystamine bisacrylamide) (p(TETA/CBA)) with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to derive poly(triethylenetetramine/cystamine bisacrylamide)-gpoly( ethylene glycol) (p(TETA/CBA)-g-PEG) with physiochemical properties different form p(TETA/CBA) alone. Subsequent studies focused on improving the synthetic ease of p(TETA/CBA)-g-PEG as well as improving its tissue specificity for oncogenic cells and their associated vasculature via modification using a tumor specific peptide. As a result, design and formulation requirements for safe and efficient gene delivery carriers is further clarified and several new and promising gene delivery reagents are born

An Activities-Based Home Program Manual for Student Occupational Therapists in a Campus-Based Teaching Clinic

Home programs are one component of occupational therapy service delivery that improves outcomes for clients and furthers the gains made in therapy. Home programs are individually designed activities and exercises that are intended to be incorporated into the client’s daily routine. Adherence to home programs, however, can be challenging and adherence rates range from 40-70%. Occupational therapy focuses on the use of meaningful, functional activities that have inherent therapeutic power. Home programs utilizing functional activity have been shown to increase effectiveness and follow-through for clients. Despite this evidence, very few activitybased home program resources exist for occupational therapists. Thus, a manual containing 37 ideas for activity-based home programs was created for use at the University of Puget Sound Onsite Occupational Therapy Clinic. A pilot study was completed to determine the effectiveness and organization of the manual. The final, completed manual is available in the resource room and online on the student Moodle course website for OT661

JUPITER-II Program: ANL analysis of ZPPR-13A and ZPPR-13B

The ZPPR-13 experiments provide basic physics data for radial heterogeneous LMFBR cores of approximately 700MWe size. Assemblies ZPPR-13A, ZPPR-13B and ZPPR-13A comprised the JUPITER-II cooperative program between the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) and PNC of Japan. The measurements were made between August 1982 and April 1984. The core designs and the measurements were planned jointly by the two parties with substantial input from U.S. industrial interests to ensure coverage of the design requirements. This report describes in detail the results of the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) analyses of phases 13A and 13B/1 and includes preliminary results for the later assemblies of phase 13B.

THE EFFECTS OF PRACTICE-BASED AND THEORETICAL-BASED PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES ON JAZZ IMPROVISATION AND PERFORMANCE ACHIEVEMENT BY HIGH SCHOOL MUSICIANS

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of two methods of jazz instruction—theoretical-based and practice-based—on the improvisational development and performance of high school jazz musicians.  Secondary purposes were to investigate (a) what instructional activities students in a jazz ensemble setting find useful in developing their performance and creative jazz improvisation skills; (b) how instruction in a jazz ensemble setting affects students’ perceptions and attitudes towards cultural diversity in music; and (c) jazz band directors’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the two types of jazz instruction. The study sample consisted of 10 high school jazz bands from the southeastern region of a Mid-Atlantic state.  Participants were randomly assigned to either the theoretical-based control group or the practice-based experimental group.  Both groups were given the same jazz composition and were recorded when sight-reading the piece for the pretest. Individual student soloists in the control (n = 13) and experimental (n = 21) groups improvised over a 32-measure section of the piece.  After four weeks of instruction, both groups were again recorded for the posttest evaluation.  All ensemble participants (N = 191) completed a questionnaire pertaining to pedagogical and cultural perspectives and band directors in the experimental group were interviewed to address the secondary purposes of the study. Recordings were evaluated by three experienced adjudicators using measures developed for this study. Mean gain was computed by subtracting pretest mean scores from posttest means for both jazz ensemble performance and jazz improvisation. Scores were compared between the control and experimental groups using a between-subjects repeated measures ANOVA.  Responses to questionnaire items were examined using descriptive statistics.  The results showed that the practice-based group achieved significantly greater gains in improvisation than the theoretical-based group.  Participants indicated that listening activities were useful in helping them to improve their performance and improvisation skills. Practice-based participants indicated a stronger inclination to express themselves through improvisation and were more likely to listen to jazz outside school than were theoretical-based participants

Understanding the evolution of the silicon electrode SEI through model lithium silicate thin film layers

Development of higher capacity anodes in lithium ion batteries for use in electric vehicles is necessary to further enhance their energy density. Silicon anodes are being considered for these lithium ion batteries due to their high specific capacity. One drawback to silicon anodes is the formation of an unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI). A major cause of this instability is due to silicon anode volume expansion of up to 300% during cycling. To this end, there remains much to learn about the chemical reactions occurring at the silicon surface. Because of this expansion, composite Si-graphite electrodes exhibit poor cycling performance, as well as significant capacity loss even at open circuit, “shelf” conditions in the absence of electrochemical cycling. Implicated in these processes is the role of the solid/electrolyte interphase (SEI) region between the Si solid material and the electrolyte systems that forms upon initial exposure to the electrolyte, and evolves over time. Thermodynamic arguments suggest that the formation of lithium silicate (LiSixOy) phases from the decomposition of the electrolyte at the silicon electrochemical potential play a role in SEI formation and evolution. To better understand the evolution of the SEI layer and the nature of silicates formed prior to any cycling of the silicon anode and how it impacts the performance of the silicon anode, model SEI layers were deposited on silicon thin films using RF magnetron co-sputtering. Thin film chemistries from SiO2 to Li3SiOx were synthesized to model the proposed lithiation of the oxide layer during the first cycle. The composition and structure of these thin films prior to exposure to electrolyte were analyzed. In order to observe the chemical reactivity of these model silicate thin films, they were soaked in 1.2M LiPF6 in EC:EMC 3:7 wt% electrolyte for up to 3 days, removed, rinsed and studied using Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR IR), X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Focused Ion Beam Cross-sections (FIB CS). Half cells with these same silicate model films were cycled to observe any differences in SEI formation or cell performance during electrochemical cycling. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Evaluation of the residue from microset on various metal surfaces.

Fast-curing impression materials are sometimes used to cast negative-mold replications of physical defects on material surfaces. The negative-mold impressions can then be used for further measurements to record the nature of the defect. These impression materials have been designed to cure quickly, and with very low adhesion, so that they can be easily removed from the surface leaving little residual contamination. Unfortunately, some contaminant is retained by the substrate material. This investigation seeks to identify the composition and quantity of the remaining material upon removal of Microset Synthetic Rubber Replicating Compound from several material surfaces. Coe-Flex was used as a relative comparison to Microset. On fifteen different substrate materials the Microset leaves no visible trace of contaminant, however, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows evidence of a thin silicone-based contaminant film of approximately 2 nm thickness