The Relationship Between Community Violence and Trauma: How Violence Affects Learning, Health, and Behavior

Research on trauma is frequently featured in mainstream news outlets, pointing to its connection to a range of behavioral and health outcomes. While trauma can have multiple interpretations, for the purposes of this report, it is the result of experiencing or witnessing chronic and sustained violence, or specific events that can have lasting effects on individuals. Researchers have identified 13 distinct types of trauma, including community violence. Community violence is an umbrella term that encompasses experiencing or witnessing firearms violence as well as exposure to drug markets. In addition to the commonly understood, more immediate impacts of gun violence on the victims and their friends and family, this report will provide an overview of the consequences of community violence on health and well-being, specifically illuminating the impact of trauma caused by the longer-term, frequently cumulative effects of living with the fear of violence. This report is intended for members of the gun violence prevention community and policymakers and is designed to provide a foundation of key concepts and research on trauma in the context of gun violence in an easily accessible format

Lost Youth: A County-by-County Analysis of 2011 California Homicide Victims Ages 10 to 24

Homicide is the second leading cause of death for California youth and young adults ages 10 to 24 years old. In 2010, the most recent year for which complete data is available from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), homicides in California were outpaced only by unintentional injuries -- the majority of which were motor vehicle fatalities -- as the leading cause of death for this age group. Of the nearly 700 homicides reported, 85 percent were committed with firearms. Nationally in 2010, California had the 14th highest homicide rate for youth and young adults ages 10 to 24.The primary goal of this series of reports is to offer localized information on the county level in California to better inform citizens,advocates, service providers, and policymakers. This third edition of this report includes a new section that begins with an assessment of the known impact of "tough on crime" policies (the all-too-frequent default response to violence in general, and youth violence in particular), reviews current national and California-specific prevention-focused violence-reduction efforts, and concludes by highlighting three local California programs that have demonstrated success: Second Chance Family and Youth Services in Salinas; Youth Alive! in Oakland; and, the Gang Reduction and Youth Development Program (GRYD) in Los Angeles.All too often, the devastating effects of violence are little recognized outside of those who are directly affected. By comparing on a county-by-county level the homicide rates for youth and young adults in California, it is our goal to add a new, ongoing context for information to be presented while helping support discussion, analysis, policy development, and action. Above all, this work is conducted in the belief that information aids in the development of sound prevention strategies -- on the local, state, and national levels

Mechanisms for charge-transfer processes at electrode/solid-electrolyte interfaces.

This report summarizes the accomplishments of a Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project focused on developing and applying new x-ray spectroscopies to understand and improve electric charge transfer in electrochemical devices. Our approach studies the device materials as they function at elevated temperature and in the presence of sufficient gas to generate meaningful currents through the device. We developed hardware and methods to allow x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to be applied under these conditions. We then showed that the approach can measure the local electric potentials of the materials, identify the chemical nature of the electrochemical intermediate reaction species and determine the chemical state of the active materials. When performed simultaneous to traditional impedance-based analysis, the approach provides an unprecedented characterization of an operating electrochemical system

Mechanisms for charge-transfer processes at electrode/solid-electrolyte interfaces.

This report summarizes the accomplishments of a Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project focused on developing and applying new x-ray spectroscopies to understand and improve electric charge transfer in electrochemical devices. Our approach studies the device materials as they function at elevated temperature and in the presence of sufficient gas to generate meaningful currents through the device. We developed hardware and methods to allow x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to be applied under these conditions. We then showed that the approach can measure the local electric potentials of the materials, identify the chemical nature of the electrochemical intermediate reaction species and determine the chemical state of the active materials. When performed simultaneous to traditional impedance-based analysis, the approach provides an unprecedented characterization of an operating electrochemical system

Fixture for in-situ and in-operando characterization of electrochemical devices in traditional vacuum systems

We describe a fixture that allows electrochemical devices to be studied under electrical bias in the type of vacuum systems commonly used in surface science. Three spring-loaded probes provide independent contacts for device operation and the characterization in vacuum or under in situ conditions with reactive gases. We document the robustness of the electrical contacts over large temperature changes and their reliability for conventional electrochemical measurements such as impedance spectroscopy. The optical access provided to the device enables the analysis by many techniques, as we demonstrate using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to measure local electrical potentials on a solid-oxide electrolyte device operating at high temperature in near-ambientpressure

Fundamental hydrogen interactions with beryllium : a magnetic fusion perspective.

Increasingly, basic models such as density functional theory and molecular dynamics are being used to simulate different aspects of hydrogen recycling from plasma facing materials. These models provide valuable insight into hydrogen diffusion, trapping, and recombination from surfaces, but their validation relies on knowledge of the detailed behavior of hydrogen at an atomic scale. Despite being the first wall material for ITER, basic single crystal beryllium surfaces have been studied only sparsely from an experimental standpoint. In prior cases researchers used electron spectroscopy to examine surface reconstruction or adsorption kinetics during exposure to a hydrogen atmosphere. While valuable, these approaches lack the ability to directly detect the positioning of hydrogen on the surface. Ion beam techniques, such as low energy ion scattering (LEIS) and direct recoil spectroscopy (DRS), are two of the only experimental approaches capable of providing this information. In this study, we applied both LEIS and DRS to examine how hydrogen binds to the Be(0001) surface. Our measurements were performed using an angle-resolved ion energy spectrometer (ARIES) to probe the surface with low energy ions (500 eV - 3 keV He{sup +} and Ne{sup +}). We were able to obtain a 'scattering maps' of the crystal surface, providing insight on how low energy ions are focused along open surface channels. Once we completed a characterization of the clean surface, we dosed the sample with atomic hydrogen using a heated tungsten capillary. A distinct signal associated with adsorbed hydrogen emerged that was consistent with hydrogen residing between atom rows. To aid in the interpretation of the experimental results, we developed a computational model to simulate ion scattering at grazing incidence. For this purpose, we incorporated a simplified surface model into the Kalypso molecular dynamics code. This approach allowed us to understand how the incident ions interacted with the surface hydrogen, providing confirmation of the preferred binding site

Design and Construction of a Cascading Pressure Reactor Prototype for Solar Thermochemical Hydrogen Production

Recent work regarding the efficiency maximization for solar thermochemical fuel production in two step cycles has led to the design of a new type of reactor—cascading pressure reactor—in which the thermal reduction step of the cycle is completed in multiple stages. This approach allows lower thermal reduction pressures than feasible in single staged reactors, and decreases required pump work, allowing higher solar to hydrogen efficiencies compared to single staged reactors. Here we report on the design and construction of a prototype cascading pressure reactor and testing of some of the key components. We especially focus on the technical challenges particular to the design, and their solutions