HgZnTe-based detectors for LWIR NASA applications

The initial goal was to grow and characterize HgZnTe and determine if it indeed had the advantageous properties that were predicted. Researchers grew both bulk and liquid phase epitaxial HgZnTe. It was determined that HgZnTe had the following properties: (1) microhardness at least 50 percent greater than HgCdTe of equivalent bandgap; (2) Hg annealing rates of at least 2 to 4 times longer than HgCdTe; and (3) higher Hg vacancy formation energies. This early work did not focus on one specific composition (x-value) of HgZnTe since NASA was interested in HgZnTe's potential for a variety of applications. Since the beginning of 1989, researchers have been concentrating, however, on the liquid phase growth of very long wavelength infrared (VLWIR) HgZnTe (cutoff approx. equals 17 microns at 65K) to address the requirements of the Earth Observing System (EOS). Since there are no device models to predict the advantages in reliability one can gain with increased microhardness, surface stability, etc., one must fabricate HgZnTe detectors and assess their relative bake stability (accelerated life test behavior) compared with HgCdTe devices fabricated in the same manner. Researchers chose to fabricate HIT detectors as a development vehicle for this program because high performance in the VLWIR has been demonstrated with HgCdTe HIT detectors and the HgCdTe HIT process should be applicable to HgZnTe. HIT detectors have a significant advantage for satellite applications since these devices dissipate much less power than conventional photoconductors to achieve the same responsivity

Consuming transgenic goats' milk containing the antimicrobial protein lysozyme helps resolve diarrhea in young pigs.

Childhood diarrhea is a significant problem in many developing countries and E. coli is a main causative agent of diarrhea in young children. Lysozyme is an antimicrobial protein highly expressed in human milk, but not ruminant milk, and is thought to help protect breastfeeding children against diarrheal diseases. We hypothesized that consumption of milk from transgenic goats which produce human lysozyme (hLZ-milk) in their milk would accelerate recovery from bacterial-induced diarrhea. Young pigs were used as a model for children and infected with enterotoxigenic E. coli. Once clinical signs of diarrhea developed, pigs were fed hLZ-milk or non-transgenic control goat milk three times a day for two days. Clinical observations and complete blood counts (CBC) were performed. Animals were euthanized and samples collected to assess differences in histology, cytokine expression and bacterial translocation into the mesenteric lymph node. Pigs consuming hLZ-milk recovered from clinical signs of infection faster than pigs consuming control milk, with significantly improved fecal consistency (p = 0.0190) and activity level (p = 0.0350). The CBC analysis showed circulating monocytes (p = 0.0413), neutrophils (p = 0.0219), and lymphocytes (p = 0.0222) returned faster to pre-infection proportions in hLZ-milk fed pigs, while control-fed pigs had significantly higher hematocrit (p = 0.027), indicating continuing dehydration. In the ileum, pigs fed hLZ-milk had significantly lower expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-8 (p = 0.0271), longer intestinal villi (p<0.0001), deeper crypts (p = 0.0053), and a thinner lamina propria (p = 0.0004). These data demonstrate that consumption of hLZ-milk helped pigs recover from infection faster, making hLZ-milk an effective treatment of E. coli-induced diarrhea

“Rooming the Patient” vs. “Moving the Patient

Healthcare is coming under ever increasing scrutiny for cost, quality, safety, and patient satisfaction. This paper compares two operational models (“rooming the patience” vs. “moving the patient”) against productivity, privacy, user satisfaction, and other performance measurements. Varying risk factors for patient populations ranging from infants to geriatrics and medical specialties from mental health to orthopedics are addressed for both models. In the first operational model after checking-in the patient is escorted to an examination room and waits as various caregivers (nurses, doctors, clerks, etc.) come and go from the exam room. In the second model the caregivers work from a specific location and the patient moves between the waiting room and these caregiver\u27s locations (reception desk, office/exam room, scheduling desk, etc.) and back to the waiting room multiple times. The paper concludes that there are advantages and disadvantages for each model. The best model depends on both the patient type and care being provided. In some situation there are conflicting results depending on the priority of productivity vs. service level. Regardless of the situation, human factors should be an important consideration in any healthcare decision

Using Social Networking Game to Teach Operations Research and Management Science Fundamental Concepts

This paper presents our experience using the popular game FarmVille by Zynga® to teach the fundamentals of linear programming and integer programming concepts to undergraduate students in an introductory operations research course. FarmVille is a popular game within the social networking website Facebook®. A month-long contest was introduced amongst the students with the goal to be the best individual farmer by striving to reach high levels of revenue, experience, and aesthetic appeal of their own unique farm. The contest is to demonstrate the concepts of problem formulation, solution methods, multiple and competing objectives, implementation of policy, and reformulation. The students were surveyed at the beginning of the semester to gain insight into their perceptions of the course. The students were also surveyed regarding the FarmVille Challenge, to gauge the effectiveness of the pedagogy and students\u27 opinions of the hand on approach. The paper demonstrates through surveyed results that the students favored this instruction. The students surveyed agree that this was an engaging and thought provoking exercise and saw the true application of multiple key fundamentals of operations research

What New Faculty Need to Know, But Don\u27t Know to Ask

A smooth transition to life at an academic institution and the surrounding community is essential to the professional careers of new faculty members. The transition begins during the hiring process and startup package negotiations. Once at an institution, aspects of academia including teaching, proposal writing, and the tenure process inevitably generate issues and concerns for new faculty members. Research has shown that mentoring new faculty members early in their academic career can have significant impact on professional success. This is especially true at a research-based institution where the demands of funded scholarship add an extra level of complexity. A survey was conducted of faculty members at Missouri University of Science & Technology (Missouri S&T) in their first three years of a tenure track appointment to determine areas of concern for new faculty members. This paper presents the survey results, discusses the issues raised by the survey, and makes recommendations for effective mentoring relationships. Specific questions for new faculty members discussed in this paper include: What to look for in a mentor? What to consider in selecting where to submit papers? When to say yes and when to say no to service? Where to begin the hunt for research funding? What are quality resources for teaching? The paper also provides insight to mentors relative to junior faculty members\u27 concerns. This paper evaluates issues that are critical to forming effective mentoring relationships. Guidance offered provides value to mentors in understanding which areas are of greatest concern to new faculty. It provides information to proteges as well in determining key characteristics of an effective mentor

Finding Your Literature Match -- A Recommender System

The universe of potentially interesting, searchable literature is expanding continuously. Besides the normal expansion, there is an additional influx of literature because of interdisciplinary boundaries becoming more and more diffuse. Hence, the need for accurate, efficient and intelligent search tools is bigger than ever. Even with a sophisticated search engine, looking for information can still result in overwhelming results. An overload of information has the intrinsic danger of scaring visitors away, and any organization, for-profit or not-for-profit, in the business of providing scholarly information wants to capture and keep the attention of its target audience. Publishers and search engine engineers alike will benefit from a service that is able to provide visitors with recommendations that closely meet their interests. Providing visitors with special deals, new options and highlights may be interesting to a certain degree, but what makes more sense (especially from a commercial point of view) than to let visitors do most of the work by the mere action of making choices? Hiring psychics is not an option, so a technological solution is needed to recommend items that a visitor is likely to be looking for. In this presentation we will introduce such a solution and argue that it is practically feasible to incorporate this approach into a useful addition to any information retrieval system with enough usage.Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of the colloquium Future Professional Communication in Astronomy II, 13-14 April 2010, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 11 pages, 4 figures