On the Detection of Exoplanets via Radial Velocity Doppler Spectroscopy

Since the discovery of the first exoplanet occurred in the late 1980s, physicists and astronomers have confirmed the existence of over 1783 planets orbiting other stars. Over the years, several methods have been developed for detecting these celestial systems, but none has thus far been more successful than the use of Radial Velocity Doppler Spectroscopy. As such, this paper attempts to break down the barriers placed before new entries into the field by detailing the theoretical premise and experimental process of this most successful technique. The content enclosed is geared for the senior undergraduate student with some knowledge of vector-based arithmetic and classical dynamics

So Others May Live: Enhancing Resilience and Performance for United States Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Candidates to Help Close the AST Body-to-Billet Gap

The Coast Guard is facing a shortage of entry-level Aviation Survival Technicians, more commonly known as helicopter rescue swimmers, due to high attrition from the training pipeline. Stretching thin a workforce which operates under some of the worst conditions on the planet is a recipe for injury or even loss of life. Positive and performance psychology offer tools to enhance candidates’ performance and resilience in this high-stress environment to enable them to meet rigorous graduation standards. Informed by the military’s recent focus on building resilience, traditional psychological skills training (PST) and mindfulness training (MT) offer empirically-grounded instructional paradigms to help address this shortfall of rescue swimmers. Situating PST and MT in the stress exposure training cycle already employed in many military settings offers a contextually relevant framework for applying these interventions. Specifically, I propose incorporating PST and MT into existing training in three places: 1) PREP, the five-day candidate preparatory program, 2) the web-based information portal for candidates, and 3) specific portions of the school. Introducing this targeted mental training as part of the rescue swimmer training pipeline should help increase graduation rates and produce more candidates prepared to live the rescue swimmer motto, “so others may live.

Near Real-Time Measurement of Forces Applied by An Optical Trap to A Rigid Cylindrical Object

An automated data acquisition and processing system is established to measure the force applied by an optical trap to an object of unknown composition in real time. Optical traps have been in use for the past 40 years to manipulate microscopic particles, but the magnitude of applied force is often unknown and requires extensive instrument characterization. Measuring or calculating the force applied by an optical trap to nonspherical particles presents additional difficulties which are also overcome with our system. Extensive experiments and measurements using well-characterized objects were performed to verify the system performance

Near Real-Time Measurement of Forces Applied by An Optical Trap to A Rigid Cylindrical Object

An automated data acquisition and processing system is established to measure the force applied by an optical trap to an object of unknown composition in real time. Optical traps have been in use for the past 40 years to manipulate microscopic particles, but the magnitude of applied force is often unknown and requires extensive instrument characterization. Measuring or calculating the force applied by an optical trap to nonspherical particles presents additional difficulties which are also overcome with our system. Extensive experiments and measurements using well-characterized objects were performed to verify the system performance

NMR Study of CO2 Capture by Butylamine and Oligopeptide KDDE in Aqueous Solution: Capture Efficiency and Gibbs Free Energy of the Capture Reaction as a Function of PH**

We Have Been Interested in the Development of Rubisco-Based Biomimetic Systems for Reversible CO2 Capture from Air. Our Design of the Chemical CO2 Capture and Release (CCR) System is Informed by the Understanding of the Binding of the Activator CO2 (ACO2) in Rubisco (Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/oxygenase). the Active Site Consists of the Tetrapeptide Sequence Lys-Asp-Asp-Glu (Or KDDE) and the Lys Sidechain Amine is Responsible for the CO2 Capture Reaction. We Are Studying the Structural Chemistry and the Thermodynamics of CO2 Capture based on the Tetrapeptide CH3CO−KDDE−NH2 ( KDDE ) in Aqueous Solution to Develop Rubisco Mimetic CCR Systems. Here, We Report the Results of 1H NMR and 13C NMR Analyses of CO2 Capture by Butylamine and by KDDE. the Carbamylation of Butylamine Was Studied to Develop the NMR Method and with the Protocol Established, We Were Able to Quantify the Oligopeptide Carbamylation at Much Lower Concentration. We Performed a PH Profile in the Multi Equilibrium System and Measured Amine Species and Carbamic Acid/carbamate Species by the Integration of 1H NMR Signals as a Function of PH in the Range 8≤pH≤11. the Determination of ΔG1(R) for the Reaction R−NH2+CO2 (Formula Presented.) R−NH−COOH Requires the Solution of a Multi-Equilibrium Equation System, Which Accounts for the Dissociation Constants K2 and K3 Controlling Carbonate and Bicarbonate Concentrations, the Acid Dissociation Constant K4 of the Conjugated Acid of the Amine, and the Acid Dissociation Constant K5 of the Alkylcarbamic Acid. We Show How the Multi-Equilibrium Equation System Can Be Solved with the Measurements of the Daughter/parent Ratio X, the Knowledge of the PH Values, and the Initial Concentrations [HCO3−]0 and [R-NH2]0. for the Reaction Energies of the Carbamylations of Butylamine and KDDE, Our Best Values Are ΔG1(Bu)=−1.57 Kcal/mol and ΔG1(KDDE)=−1.17 Kcal/mol. Both CO2 Capture Reactions Are Modestly Exergonic and Thereby Ensure Reversibility in an Energy-Efficient Manner. These Results Validate the Hypothesis that KDDE-Type Oligopeptides May Serve as Reversible CCR Systems in Aqueous Solution and Guide Designs for their Improvement

Dielectric spectroscopy of ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals: Measuring the capacitance of insulating interfacial layers

Numerous measurements of the dielectric constant $\epsilon$ of the recently discovered ferroelectric nematic ($N_F$) liquid crystal (LC) phase report extraordinarily large values of $\epsilon^\prime$ (up to ~30,000). We show that what is in fact being measured in such experiments is the high capacitance of the non-ferroelectric, interfacial, insulating layers of nanoscale thickness that bound the $N_F$ material in typical cells. We analyze a parallel-plate cell filled with $N_F$ material of high-polarization $\mathbf{P}$, oriented parallel to the plates at zero applied voltage. Minimization of the dominant electrostatic energy renders $\mathbf{P}$ spatially uniform and orients it to make the electric field in the $N_F$ as small as possible, a condition under which the voltage applied to the cell appears almost entirely across the high-capacity interfacial layers. This coupling of orientation and charge creates a combined polarization-external capacitance (PCG) Goldstone reorientation mode requiring applied voltages orders of magnitude smaller than that of the $N_F$ layer alone to effectively transport charge across the $N_F$ layer. The $N_F$ layer acts as a low-value resistor and the interfacial capacitors as reversible energy storage reservoirs, lowering the restoring force (mass) of the PCG mode and producing strong reactive dielectric behavior. Analysis of data from several experiments on ferroelectric liquid crystals (chiral smectics C, bent-core smectics, and the $N_F$ phase supports the PCG model, showing deriving that deriving dielectric constants from electrical impedance measurements of high-polarization ferroelectric LCs, without properly accounting for the self-screening effects of polarization charge and the capacitive contributions of interfacial layers, can result in overestimation of the $\epsilon^\prime$ values of the LC by many orders of magnitude.Comment: 26 pages of text, 10 figures, 49 references (40 pages total

From Eminence to Preeminence: Developing Resilience and Well-being for Penn Law Students

Lawyers are known to suffer from an increased risk of substance abuse and mental health issues. There is evidence that symptoms of these issues may arise years earlier in law school where students often suffer from psychological distress, anxiety, and alienation. The Penn Law Center on Professionalism (COP) seeks to help students at the University of Pennsylvania Law School better navigate law school and their transition into the workforce by increasing their resilience, confidence, and engagement. Informed by current psychological literature, we have proposed four positive interventions to help Penn Law students reinterpret and manage stress, more objectively assess their current situation, and bolster their intrinsic motivation. We recommend a brief social-belonging letter writing intervention, a mindfulness and mindset workshop, a workshop exploring explanatory styles and resilience, and a poster campaign aimed at addressing imposter syndrome. We suggest measuring results through mixed qualitative and quantitative metrics. We believe that developing these skills will enable students to flourish both in law school and in their future careers