Shielding of Space Vehicles by Magnetic Fields

Spacecraft shielding by magnetic field

“To Kill a Mockingbird”: A production analysis

The purpose of this academic thesis is to study and analyze a production of To Kill a Mockingbird (novel by Harper Lee, stage adaptation by Christopher Sergel). This study includes pre-production research that explores the similarities and differences in plot, timeline, characters, and themes between the novel and play, as well as the historical significance and contemporary relevance of the story. Notes and evaluation from the production at the University of Texas-Pan American are included

An investigation of the behavior of solvent based polycaprolactone ink for material jetting

An initial study of processing bioresorbable polycaprolactone (PCL) through material jetting was conducted using a Fujifilm Dimatix DMP-2830 material printer. The aim of this work was to investigate a potential solvent based method of jetting polycaprolactone. Several solvents were attempt to prepared PCL solvent based ink and 1, 4-dioxane was chosen with the consideration of both solubility and safety. The morphology of PCL formed under different substrate temperatures, droplet spacings were investigated. Multi-layer PCL structures were printed and characterized. This work shows that biodegradable polycaporlactone can be processed through material jetting by dissolving it

Spectral Engineering of Optical Fiber Preforms Through Active Nanoparticle Doping

Europium doped alkaline earth fluoride [Eu:AEF2 (AE = Ca, Sr, Ba)] nanoparticles were synthesized and systematically incorporated into the core of modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD)-derived silica-based preforms by solution doping. The resulting preforms were examined to determine the impact of the nanoparticles chemistry on the spectroscopic behavior of the glass. The dominant existence of Eu3+ was demonstrated in all preforms, which is in contrast to conventional solution doped preforms employing dissolved europium salts where Eu2+ is primarily observed. Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence lifetime measurements indicated that the nanoparticles composition is effective in controlling, at a local chemical and structural level, the spectroscopic properties of active dopants in optical fiber glasses. Further, there is a systematic and marked increase in radiative lifetime, τ, of the Eu3+ emission that follows the cationic mass; τCa \u3c τSr \u3c τBa with the BaF2-derived sample yielding a 37% lengthening of the lifetime over the CaF2-derived one. Such nanoscale control of what otherwise is silica glass could be useful for realizing property-enhanced and tailored spectroscopic performance from otherwise “standard” materials, e.g., vapor-derived silica, in next generation optical fibers

Spectral engineering of optical fiber preforms through active nanoparticle doping

Europium doped alkaline earth fluoride [Eu:AEF(2) (AE = Ca, Sr, Ba)] nanoparticles were synthesized and systematically incorporated into the core of modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD)-derived silica-based preforms by solution doping. The resulting preforms were examined to determine the impact of the nanoparticles chemistry on the spectroscopic behavior of the glass. The dominant existence of Eu3+ was demonstrated in all preforms, which is in contrast to conventional solution doped preforms employing dissolved europium salts where Eu2+ is primarily observed. Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence lifetime measurements indicated that the nanoparticles composition is effective in controlling, at a local chemical and structural level, the spectroscopic properties of active dopants in optical fiber glasses. Further, there is a systematic and marked increase in radiative lifetime, tau, of the Eu3+ emission that follows the cationic mass; tau(Ca) \u3c tau(Sr) \u3c tau(Ba) with the BaF2-derived sample yielding a 37% lengthening of the lifetime over the CaF2-derived one. Such nanoscale control of what otherwise is silica glass could be useful for realizing property-enhanced and tailored spectroscopic performance from otherwise standard materials, e.g., vapor-derived silica, in next generation optical fibers

Chemotherapy in advanced ovarian cancer: four systematic meta-analyses of individual patient data from 37 randomized trials. Advanced Ovarian Cancer Trialists' Group.

The purpose of this systematic study was to provide an up to date and reliable quantitative summary of the relative benefits of various types of chemotherapy (non-platinum vs platinum, single-agent vs combination and carboplatin vs cisplatin) in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. Also, to investigate whether well-defined patient subgroups benefit more or less from cisplatin- or carboplatin-based therapy. Meta-analyses were based on updated individual patient data from all available randomized controlled trials (published and unpublished), including 37 trials, 5667 patients and 4664 deaths. The results suggest that platinum-based chemotherapy is better than non-platinum therapy, show a trend in favour of platinum combinations over single-agent platinum, and suggest that cisplatin and carboplatin are equally effective. There is no good evidence that cisplatin is more or less effective than carboplatin in any particular subgroup of patients

Primary intra-abdominal malignant fibrous histiocytoma presenting as pyrexia of unknown origin – report of a case with review of literature

Primary intra-abdominal malignant mesenchymal tumours are very rare and there are not many cases of visceral malignant fibrous histiocytoma in the English literature. We report a new case of abdominal malignant fibrous histiocytoma presenting as abdominal pain and pyrexia of unknown origin in a 54 year old female followed by a brief review of literature. Presentation with pyrexia of unknown origin is extremely rare in this condition

Consistency-based detection of potential tumor-specific deletions in matched normal/tumor genomes

Wittler R, Chauve C. Consistency-based detection of potential tumor-specific deletions in matched normal/tumor genomes. BMC Bioinformatics. 2011;12(Suppl. 9):S21