A Moving Experience: The Classroom Activities and Art Camp

My final creative project began as an effort to incorporate bodily movement into the curriculum of my two-dimensional fine art classes in order to give students more opportunities for success in learning. My idea was to design, plan and execute many activities in order to provide students with a more kinesthetic learning environment. In the beginning, I focused on teaching some of the fundamentals of art using activities that would give the students opportunities to move their bodies. I found myself constantly on the lookout for new ways to incorporate movement in art, which led me to organize a summer art camp for students in our district. Art camp was the ultimate kinesthetic experience in the fine arts. The act of moving students away from the school and experiencing the outdoors where they could feel the wind on their face and walk to the different sessions was important for the kinesthetic approach. Throughout the planning and the execution of the camp, I paid attention to the kinesthetic needs of the campers including: teambuilding for socialization and a sense of community, lots of opportunities to be up and moving, field trips, having good meals and snacks, and wonderful fine art workshops with hands on learning. I started this project idealistically thinking that doing it would change the lives of my students. What I didn’t realize was how much it would change mine. I learned that I could be a leader as I strategized, organized, and collaborated. I discovered that I am happy with who I am and how I live my life. I realized that I am not just creative, I am a creator. Not only can I make art, I can make things happen, magical things

Time card entry system

The Time Card Entry System was developed to interface with the DOE Headquarters Electronic Time and Attendance (ETA) system. It features pop-up window pick lists for Work Breakdown Structure Numbers and Hour Codes and has extensive processing that ensures that time and attendance reported by the employee fulfills US Government/OMB requirements before Timekeepers process the data at the end of the two week payroll cycle using ETA. Tours of Duty (e.g. ten hour day, four day week with Friday through Sunday off), established in the ETA system, are imported into the Time Card Entry System by the Timekeepers. An individual`s Tour of Duty establishes the basis for validation of time of day and number of hours worked per day. At the end of the two week cycle, data is exported by the Timekeepers from the Time Card Entry System into ETA data files

Rayleigh-Taylor instability and resulting failure modes of ablatively imploded inertial-fusion targets

This article presents a theory of these instabilities and potential modes of failure caused by them. Discussions are given for the following: small amplitude growth of the outside surface instability; and modes of failure resulting from nonlinear development of the inside surface instability

Predictive Formula for Electron Range over a Large Span of Energies

An empirical model developed by the Materials Research Group that predicts the approximate electron penetration depth—or range—of some common materials has been extended to predict the range for a broad assortment of other materials. The electron range of a material is the maximum distance electrons can travel through a material, before losing all of their incident kinetic energy. The original model used the Continuous-Slow-Down-Approximation for energy deposition in a material to develop a composite analytical formula which estimated the range from 10 MeV with an uncertainty of v, which describes the effective number of valence electrons. NV was empirically calculated for \u3e200 materials which have tabulated range and inelastic mean free path data in the NIST ESTAR and IMFP databases. Correlations of NV with key material constants (e.g., density, atomic number, atomic weight, and band gap) were established for this large set of materials. Somewhat different correlations were found for different sub-classes of materials (e.g., solids/liquids/gases, conductors/semiconductors/insulators, elements/compounds/polymers/composites). Values of the average energy lost per inelastic collision were related to band gap and plasmon energies for solids and first excitation energies for liquids and gases. Simulations were performed to test the sensitivity of NV and the range to materials parameters; these suggest that reasonably accurate results were achievable with modest precision of the parameters. These correlations have led to methods using only basic material properties to predict Nv and the range for additional untested materials which have no supporting range data. Estimates for both simple compounds (e.g., BN and AlN), composites, and complex biological materials (e.g., brain tissue and cortical bone tissue) are presented, along with tests of the validity and accuracy of the predictive formula. These calculations are of great value for studies involving high energy electron bombardment, such as electron spectroscopy, spacecraft charging, or electron beam therapy. Efforts are underway to create a user tool available to the scientific community to estimate the range of an arbitrary material with modest accuracy over an extended width of incident electron energies. *Supported through funding from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and a USU URCO Fellowship

Highly Enriched Uranium Metal Annuli and Cylinders with Polyethylene Reflectors and/or Internal Polyethylene Moderator

A variety of critical experiments were constructed of enriched uranium metal during the 1960s and 1970s at the Oak Ridge Critical Experiments Facility in support of criticality safety operations at the Y-12 Plant. The purposes of these experiments included the evaluation of storage, casting, and handling limits for the Y-12 Plant and providing data for verification of calculation methods and cross-sections for nuclear criticality safety applications. These included solid cylinders of various diameters, annuli of various inner and outer diameters, two and three interacting cylinders of various diameters, and graphite and polyethylene reflected cylinders and annuli. Of the hundreds of delayed critical experiments, experiments of uranium metal annuli with and without polyethylene reflectors and with the central void region either empty or filled with polyethylene were evaluated under ICSBEP Identifier HEU-MET-FAST-076. The outer diameter of the uranium annuli varied from 9 to 15 inches in two-inch increments. In addition, there were uranium metal cylinders with diameters varying from 7 to 15 inches with complete reflection and reflection on one flat surface to simulate floor reflection. Most of the experiments were performed between February 1964 and April 1964. Five partially reflected (reflected on the top only) experiments were assembled in November 1967, but are judged by the evaluators not to be of benchmark quality. Twenty-four of the twenty-five experiments have been determined to have fast spectra. The only exception has a mixed spectrum. Analyses were performed in which uncertainty associated with five different parameters associated with the uranium parts and three associated with the polyethylene parts was evaluated. Included were uranium mass, height, diameter, isotopic content, and impurity content and polyethylene mass, diameter, and impurity content. There were additional uncertainties associated with assembly alignment, support structure, and the value for ßeff. In addition to the idealizations made by the experimenters (removal of a diaphragm), a few simplifications were also made to the benchmark models that resulted in a small bias and additional uncertainty. Simplifications included omission of the support structure, possible surrounding equipment, and the walls, floor, and ceiling of the experimental cell. Bias values that result from these simplifications were determined and associated uncertainty in the bias values were included in the overall uncertainty in benchmark keff values. Bias values ranged from 0.0002 ?k to 0.0093 ?k below the experimental value. Overall uncertainties range from ? 0.0002 to ? 0.0011. Major contributors to the overall uncertainty include uncertainty in the support structure and the polyethylene parts. A comparison of experimental, benchmark-model, and MCNP-model keff values is shown in Figure 1. The experimental keff values are derived from the original reactivities reported by the principal experimentalist. The benchmark-model keff values are the experimental keff values adjusted to account for biases that were introduced by removing the support structure and surroundings. The MCNP-model keff values are simply the values found from MCNP calculations using the benchmark specifications and ENDF/B-VI cross-section data. Figure 1. Comparison of Experimental, Benchmark-Model and MCNP-Model keff value. Calculated results for most of the experiments ar

Highly Enriched uranium Metal Spheres Surrounded by Various Reflectors

A series of experiments was performed at the Los Alamos critical assembly facility in the early 1950s to determine the critical mass of highly enriched uranium spheres surrounded by thin reflectors of various materials. The objective of these experiments was to obtain a precision graph of the critical mass of highly enriched uranium metal as a function of reflector thickness and to generate transport cross sections for the reflector material. Thirteen configurations are described and evaluated under ICSBEP identifier, HEU-MET-FAST-085; two with 1.98-inch-thick and 4.158-inch-thick copper reflectors, two with 2- and 4-inch-thick cast iron reflectors, one with a 1.945-inch-thick nickel reflector, two with 1.88- and 2.02-inch-thick nickel-copper-zinc alloy reflectors, one with a 1.81-inch-thick thorium reflector, two with 2-inch-thick and 4-inch-thick tungsten alloy reflectors, two with 2-inch-thick and 4.075-inch-thick zinc reflectors, and one with a 2-inch-thick tungsten alloy reflector surrounded by a 2-inch-thick cast iron reflector. All configurations were slightly subcritical with measured multiplications ranging from 20 to 162. Analyses were performed in which uncertainty associated with six different parameters was evaluated; namely, extrapolation to uranium critical mass, uranium density, 235U enrichment, reflector density, reflector thickness, and reflector impurities were considered. Uncertainty in cast-iron alloying elements was also considered when appropriate. In addition to the idealizations made by the experimenters, two simplifications were also made to the benchmark models that resulted in a small bias and additional uncertainty. First of all, since impurities in core and reflector materials are only estimated, they are not included in the benchmark models. Secondly, the room, support structure, and other possible surrounding equipment were not included in the model. Bias values that result from these two simplifications were determined and associated uncertainty in the bias values were included in the overall uncertainty in benchmark keff values. Bias values range from 0.0021 ?k low to 0.0016 ?k high. Overall uncertainties range from ? 0.0023 to ? 0.0064. Major contributors to the overall uncertainty include uncertainty in the extrapolation to the uranium critical mass and the uranium density. Results are summarized in the following figure. The 3 configurations described and evaluated in HEU-MET-FAST-085 are judged to be acceptable for use as criticality safety benchmark experiments and should be valuable integral benchmarks for nuclear data testing of the various reflector materials. Details of the benchmark models, uncertainty analyses, and final results are given in this paper

Effects of electronic cigarette aerosol exposure on oral and systemic health

Conventional cigarette smoke harms nearly every organ of the body and is the leading cause of death in the United States and in the world. Decades of research have associated conventional cigarette smoke with several diseases and death. Heavily marketed, electronic nicotine delivery systems such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are available in a variety of flavors and high nicotine concentrations. In 2019, a severe lung disease outbreak linked to e-cigarette use led to several deaths, which was called electronic-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI). Even though the trend of e-cigarette use among teens continues to increase, information on the effects of e-cigarette smoke on oral and overall health are still scarce. This review discusses the possible health effects due to unregulated e-cigarette use, as well as the health effects of second-hand smoke and third-hand smoke on non-smokers

Simulation Chamber for Space Environment Survivability Testing

A vacuum chamber was designed and built that simulates the space environment making possible the testing of material modification due to exposure of solar radiation. Critical environmental components required include an ultra high vacuum (10-9 Torr), a UV/VIS/NIR solar spectrum source, an electron gun and charge plasma, temperature extremes, and long exposure duration. To simulate the solar spectrum, a solar simulator was attached to the chamber with a range of 200nm to 2000nm. The exposure time can be accelerated by scaling the solar intensity up to four suns. A Krypton lamp imitates the 120 nm ultraviolet hydrogen Lymann alpha emission not produced by the solar simulator. A temperature range from 100K to 450K is achieved using an attached cryogenic reservoir and resistance heaters. An electron flood gun (mono-energetic, 20 eV to 15keV) is calibrated to replicate solar wind at desired distances from the sun. The chamber maintains 98% uniformity of the electron and electromagnetic radiation exposure relative to the center. The chamber allows for a cost-effective investigation of multiple small-scale samples. An automated data acquisition system monitors and records the reflectivity, absorptivity, and emissivity of the samples throughout the test. An integrating sphere and an IR absorptivity/emissivity probe are used to collect this data. The system allows for measurements to be taken while the samples are still under vacuum and exposed to radiation. With these accurate simulations we can closely predict the material’s behavior in near proximity to the sun. This information is vital in determining materials for satellites, probes, and any other spacecraft