Don't show any sign of a chip in your armor : the communicative co-construction of mental health in correctional work

Field of study: Communication.Dr. Rebecca Meisenbach, Dissertation Supervisor.Includes vita."May 2018."This study examined the communicative construction of mental health in correctional work. Using narrative interviews with 25 current and former correctional officers, I explore how macro, meso, and micro D/discourses both enable and constrain communication and action around mental health for correctional employees. The findings suggest that larger cultural Discourses related to masculinity, bounded rationality, and personal responsibility, meso discourses related to organizational expectations, and daily micro-talk about mental health and resources such as the Employee Assistance Program, primarily create and sustain communication barriers that limit correctional workers from communicating about or seeking help for mental health challenges. From a critical perspective, D/discourses related to power and control privileged the rational experiences of workers and marginalized the emotional/physical experiences, a practice I argue has significant implications for the health and well-being of workers.Includes bibliographical references (pages 138-156)

Performance of epitaxial back surface field cells

Epitaxial back surface field structures were formed by depositing a 10 micron thick 10 Omega-cm epitaxial silicon layer onto substrates with resistivities of 0.01, 0.1, 1.0 and 10 Omega-cm. A correlation between cell open-circuit voltage and substrate resistivity was observed and was compared to theory. The cells were also irradiated with 1 MeV electrons to a fluence of 5 X 10 to the 15th power e/cm2. The decrease of cell open-circuit voltage was in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions and the measured short circuit currents were within 2% of the prediction. Calculations are presented of optimum cell performance as functions of epitaxial layer thickness, radiation fluence and substrate diffusion length

The effects of lithium counterdoping on radiation damage and annealing in n(+)p silicon solar cells

Boron-doped silicon n(+)p solar cells were counterdoped with lithium by ion implantation and the resultant n(+)p cells irradiated by 1 MeV electrons. Performance parameters were determined as a function of fluence and a deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) study was conducted. The lithium counterdoped cells exhibited significantly increased radiation resistance when compared to boron doped control cells. Isochronal annealing studies of cell performance indicate that significant annealing occurs at 100 C. Isochronal annealing of the deep level defects showed a correlation between a single defect at E sub v + 0.43 eV and the annealing behavior of short circuit current in the counterdoped cells. The annealing behavior was controlled by dissociation and recombination of this defect. The DLTS studies showed that counterdoping with lithium eliminated three deep level defects and resulted in three new defects. The increased radiation resistance of the counterdoped cells is due to the interaction of lithium with oxygen, single vacancies and divacancies. The lithium-oxygen interaction is the most effective in contributing to the increased radiation resistance

Effects of processing and dopant on radiation damage removal in silicon solar cells

Gallium and boron doped silicon solar cells, processed by ion-implantation followed by either laser or furnace anneal were irradiated by 1 MeV electrons and their post-irradiation recovery by thermal annealing determined. During the post-irradiation anneal, gallium-doped cells prepared by both processes recovered more rapidly and exhibited none of the severe reverse annealing observed for similarly processed 2 ohm-cm boron doped cells. Ion-implanted furnace annealed 0.1 ohm-cm boron doped cells exhibited the lowest post-irradiation annealing temperatures (200 C) after irradiation to 5 x 10 to the 13th e(-)/sq cm. The drastically lowered recovery temperature is attributed to the reduced oxygen and carbon content of the 0.1 ohm-cm cells. Analysis based on defect properties and annealing kinetics indicates that further reduction in annealing temperature should be attainable with further reduction in the silicon's carbon and/or divacancy content after irradiation

Radiation damage in high voltage silicon solar cells

Three high open-circuit voltage cell designs based on 0.1 ohm-cm p-type silicon were irradiated with 1 MeV electrons and their performance determined to fluences as high as 10 to the 15th power/sq cm. Of the three cell designs, radiation induced degradation was greatest in the high-low emitter (HLE cell). The diffused and ion implanted cells degraded approximately equally but less than the HLE cell. Degradation was greatest in an HLE cell exposed to X-rays before electron irradiation. The cell regions controlling both short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage degradation were defined in all three cell types. An increase in front surface recombination velocity accompanied time dependent degradation of an HLE cell after X-irradiation. It was speculated that this was indirectly due to a decrease in positive charge at the silicon-oxide interface. Modifications aimed at reducing radiation induced degradation are proposed for all three cell types

Radiation damage in lithium-counterdoped n/p silicon solar cells

Lithium counterdoped n+/p silicon solar cells were irradiated with 1 MV electrons and their post irradiation performance and low temperature annealing properties were compared to that of the 0.35 ohm cm control cells. Cells fabricated from float zone and Czochralski grown silicon were investigated. It was found that the float zone cells exhibited superior radiation resistance compared to the control cells, while no improvement was noted for the Czochralski grown cells. Room temperature and 60 C annealing studies were conducted. The annealing was found to be a combination of first and second order kinetics for short times. It was suggested that the principal annealing mechanism was migration of lithium to a radiation induced defect with subsequent neutralization of the defect by combination with lithium. The effects of base lithium gradient were investigated. It was found that cells with negative base lithium gradients exhibited poor radiation resistance and performance compared to those with positive or no lithium gradients; the latter being preferred for overall performance and radiation resistance

Radiation damage in front and back illuminated high resistivity silicon solar cells

Radiation induced degradation, in front and back illuminated 84 and 1250 ohm-cm n+pp+ silicon solar cells, was determined and cell performance interpreted using calculated optically injected charge distributions and cell voltage components. The 84 ohm-cm cell degraded less when illuminated from the front or n+ side compared to that when illuminated from the back or p+ side. On the other hand, the 1250 ohm-cm cell degraded less when back illuminated. It is concluded that, in addition to the usual mechanisms leading to decreased collection efficiencies, loss of conductivity modulation is a major cause of radiation damage in high resistivity silicon solar cells. These results suggest that radiation damage to high resistivity n+pp+ cells can be decreased by increasing cell collection efficiency and illuminating the cells from the p+ side

A narrative synthesis of women's out-of-body experiences during childbirth

Introduction Some women have a dissociated, out-of-body experience (OBE) during childbirth, which may be described as seeing the body from above or floating above the body. This review examines this phenomenon using narratives from women who have experienced intrapartum OBEs. Methods A narrative synthesis of qualitative research was employed to systematically synthesize OBE narratives from existing studies. Strict inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. The included papers were critiqued by 2 of the authors to determine the appropriateness of the narrative synthesis method, procedural transparency, and soundness of the interpretive approach. Results Women experiencing OBEs during labor and birth report a disembodied state in the presence of stress or trauma. Three forms of OBEs are described: floating above the scene, remaining close to the scene, or full separation of a body part from the main body. Women had clear recall of OBEs, describing the experience and point of occurrence. Women who reported OBEs had experienced current or previous traumatic childbirth, or trauma in a non-birth situation. OBEs as prosaic experiences were not identified. Discussion OBEs are part of the lived experience of some women giving birth. The OBEs in this review were trauma related with some women disclosing previous posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is not evident whether there is a connection between PTSD and OBEs at present, and OBEs may serve as a potential coping mechanism in presence of trauma. Clinicians should legitimize women’s disclosure of OBEs and explore and ascertain their impact, either as a normal coping mechanism or a precursor to perinatal mental illness. Research into the function of OBEs and any relationship to PTSD may assist in early interventions for childbearing women

Liver-directed chemotherapy of cetuximab and bevacizumab in combination with oxaliplatin is more effective to inhibit tumor growth of CC531 colorectal rat liver metastases than systemic chemotherapy

Colorectal carcinoma is, through to its high rate of liver metastasis (mCRC), the second most cause of cancer death worldwide. Tumor resection represents the only potential cure. In cases of unresectable disease systemic chemotherapy (sCHT) remains the therapy of choice. Modern sCHT regimens including biological agents can induce tumor response that leads to curative surgery of initially unresectable mCRC. However, liver-directed therapy via hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) may produce higher response rates than sCHT. Herein we studied whether a HAI of cetuximab (CE) plus bevacizumab (BE) with or without oxaliplatin (OX) can inhibit tumor growth in a rat model. WAG/Rij rats underwent subcapsular hepatic tumor implantation. After 10 days animals received either HAI or sCHT of CE plus BE, OX or all three drugs. Saline-treated animals served as controls. Tumor growth was estimated at day 10 and 13. On day 13 liver and tumor tissue was studied histologically and immunohistochemically. In controls the tumors grew about 50 %. OX alone was not capable of inhibiting tumor growth. In contrast, CE plus BE given as HAI significantly reduced tumor growth compared to sCHT (p < 0.05). HAI of CE plus BE combined with OX yielded an even more pronounced inhibition of tumor growth. Immunohistochemistry revealed a decreased tumor cell proliferation and tumor vascularization. The present study demonstrates that HAI of CE plus BE is effective to inhibit tumor growth. This effect is even more pronounced in combination with OX. Systemic application of these agents cannot achieve comparable effects

Fasting regulates EGR1 and protects from glucose- and dexamethasone-dependent sensitization to chemotherapy

Fasting reduces glucose levels and protects mice against chemotoxicity, yet drugs that promote hyperglycemia are widely used in cancer treatment. Here, we show that dexamethasone (Dexa) and rapamycin (Rapa), commonly administered to cancer patients, elevate glucose and sensitize cardiomyocytes and mice to the cancer drug doxorubicin (DXR). Such toxicity can be reversed by reducing circulating glucose levels by fasting or insulin. Furthermore, glucose injections alone reversed the fasting-dependent protection against DXR in mice, indicating that elevated glucose mediates, at least in part, the sensitizing effects of rapamycin and dexamethasone. In yeast, glucose activates protein kinase A (PKA) to accelerate aging by inhibiting transcription factors Msn2/4. Here, we show that fasting or glucose restriction (GR) regulate PKA and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) to protect against DXR in part by activating the mammalian Msn2/4 ortholog early growth response protein 1 (EGR1). Increased expression of the EGR1-regulated cardioprotective peptides atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) in heart tissue may also contribute to DXR resistance. Our findings suggest the existence of a glucose\u2013PKA pathway that inactivates conserved zinc finger stress-resistance transcription factors to sensitize cells to toxins conserved from yeast to mammals. Our findings also describe a toxic role for drugs widely used in cancer treatment that promote hyperglycemia and identify dietary interventions that reverse these effects