TOWARDS A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF HYDROTHERMALLY GROWN GARNETS AND SESQUIOXIDE CRYSTALS FOR LASER APPLICATIONS

ABSTRACT The hydrothermal method of crystal growth offers many benefits over traditional melt-based techniques such as lower temperature requirements relieving detrimental high temperature effects such as stress fracturing and a closed-environment, which limits impurities. The continued study of this type of growth including hydrothermal epitaxy is crucial in our world of constant miniaturization. Presented in this thesis is the hydrothermal growth of crystals of LuAG and Lu2O3 doped with a variety of dopants. Their room-temperature and cryogenic absorption spectra are also presented. Much like Nature uses heat, pressure, water and a nutrient-rich feedstock we have used this hydrothermal technique to produce synthetic crystals of grossular, Ca3Al2(SiO4)3, a naturally occurring garnet as well as other aluminosilicates related to grossular, including a new type of vesuvianite. Other garnets important to the laser industry have also been grown using the hydrothermal technique, such as yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), lutetium aluminum garnet (LuAG) and the related sesquioxide Lu2O3, (lutetia). The growth and characteristics of Yb-doped lutetia and LuAG, Nd-doped lutetia, and Dy-doped lutetia and YAG are presented herein. These laser crystals have been analyzed by high-resolution absorption spectroscopy at room temperature as well as 250K, 200K, 150K and 80K and absorption coefficients are presented. A coprecipitation technique common in the ceramics field has been adapted for use creating precursors for hydrothermal crystal growth, including phase-pure polycrystalline anorthite and phase-pure gehlenite. Coprecipitation has also been utilized to gain greater control of dopants to create pre-doped feedstocks used for the growth of laser crystal. The versatility of the hydrothermal growth method is also highlighted in a novel epitaxial technique, core growth, which coats the internal surfaces of a seed crystal as well as external surfaces. This can result in multifunctional, layered crystals with no additional size, suitable for applications in need of constant miniaturization demanded by today’s industries

Nurturing whole person care with nature

As part of our goal to provide Whole Person Care to our residents and families, Stedman Community Hospice is committed to integrating alternative therapies to compliment the more traditional systems of care. Our Horticultural Therapy Program was introduced in the spring of 2011 with the launch of our beautiful therapy garden.  This workshop will discuss how we have since developed a comprehensive Horticultural Therapy Program in both a hospice and long-term care setting and how this type of program can benefit residents, families and staff.  Discussion will include how to utilize community groups, volunteers and students to achieve and maintain a high standard of program. We hope to inspire other care facilities to embrace horticultural therapy as a means to enhance the level of care for everyone

Institutional development work in the World Bank : a review of 84 bank projects

Institutional weakness is a critical constraint to economic development. The goal of this paper is to review the design of recent Bank projects to assess the quality of their institutional development (ID) components and the factors that may affect that quality. A major focus is Bank staffing and organization, and the following issues are addressed: (a) the quality of institutional analysis and ID components in the design of current Bank project; (b) the ID work that is being done in Bank projects; (c) qualifications needed for effective ID work; (d) the impact the Bank's organizational structure has on ID work; and (e) suggestions that can be made to broaden and strengthen the ID work in Bank projects.Banks&Banking Reform,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Economics&Finance,Municipal Financial Management,Rural Portfolio Improvement

Dialogic Reading with Integrated Vocabulary Enrichment: Case Study of a Second-Grade Student in Special Education

We present a case study of Ben, a second grader receiving special education for a speech-language impairment, literacy/numeracy deficits, and behavioral regulation in the 2019-2020 school year when the pandemic closed schools in March. Focusing on reading comprehension and vocabulary, we implemented our shared book-reading intervention called Dialogic Reading with Integrated Vocabulary Enrichment (DRIVE), which involves using specific types of prompts to engage in a dialogue about the story that will encourage development of children’s expressive language and vocabulary as well as advance their story comprehension. After nine 30-minute weekly sessions, Ben showed substantial vocabulary improvement and improved motivation

Will They Use What You Taught Them? Course-Embedded Assessment Of Accounting Students Information Technology Self-Efficacy

This paper provides a model of course-embedded assessment for use in an undergraduate Accounting Information Systems course, and reports the results obtained from implementation.  The profession’s educational objectives are mapped to specific computer skills and assignments, to provide direct evidence of learning outcomes.  Indirect evidence of learning is provided by data collected with computer self-efficacy instrumentation.  The paper addresses an important issue for persons entering the profession, in that they may have learned to use specific computer applications, but may lack the confidence in their own ability to use these skills.  This may impact their ability to gain employment, or to maintain employment in accounting.  The data collected may be employed to assess how well an AIS course supports the mission of its school, by demonstrating the acquisition of IT skills and the necessary self-efficacy to use those skills

MADAM Protein Decreases Microsporidia Attachment to Host Cells

Microsporidia are an obligate, intracellular fungal pathogen that can cause devastating, disseminating infections in the immunocompromised. Because of the limitations of current medications, microsporidia’s abundant presence in the environment, and an increasing number of at-risk populations, investigation into decreasing microsporidia infectivity is needed. As an intracellular pathogen, microspridial attachment is a vital first step to infection, and if attachment is reduced, previous work shows that infectivity is mitigated. An in silico analysis of Encephalitozoon intestinalis revealed a predicted protein similar in sequence to ADAM (A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase) proteins. This predicted protein is termed microsporidia ADAM or MADAM. ADAM proteins contain an integrin binding region, which is well known to bind to integrin proteins. Integrins are important receptors for attachment and cell signaling, and several pathogens utilize host integrins as a receptor to aid in attachment during infection. Immunoelectron microscopy demonstrates that MADAM protein is found on the plasma membrane, anchoring disk, and polar tube of E. intestinalis spores. Our hypothesis is that MADAM is involved in the key role of host cell attachment. To this end, a 17 amino acid long section of the MADAM protein was generated that surrounded the integrin binding domain. During spore adherence assays, pretreating host cells with this small peptide protein, significantly decreased E. intestinalis spore attachment to host cells as compared to control samples. These results suggest E. intestinalis cleverly exploits host integrins as a means to bind to host cells before infection

Use of urine specific gravity to improve screening for albuminuria

Use of urine specific gravity to improve screening for albuminuria. The albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) can be used to measure urine albumin excretion rates, but is inconvenient and expensive. More rapid and less expensive screening methods estimate only albumin concentration and are subject to errors caused by variation in urine volume. We examined whether urine specific gravity could be used in place of urine creatinine to correct albumin concentration for differences in urine volume in 50 patients. Urine specific gravity accurately estimated urine creatinine concentration (r = 0.79, P < 0.001). The albumin estimated-creatinine ratio (ACestR) in a random spot urine sample correlated with urine albumin excretion measured in a 24-hour urine collection (r = 0.98, P < 0.001), as did the ACR (r = 0.95, P < 0.001). For determining microalbuminuria, the sensitivity (0.88) and specificity (0.93) of the ACestR were similar to those of ACR (0.89 and 0.93, respectively). Unfortunately, the sensitivity (0.63) of the Micral-Test was relatively poor, and was only slightly improved by correcting for urine specific gravity (0.69) in this small sample of patients. Nevertheless, these results suggest that as rapid methods for measuring urine albumin concentration improve, combining them with urine specific gravity might produce a less expensive and more convenient alternative to the ACR