#32 - Geospatial Analysis of Distance-Decay of Georgia State Lunatic, Idiot, and Epileptic Asylum Admission Rates

Distance-decay theory, or Jarvis’s Law, proposes the use of asylums is related to how near a patient is to the institution—those living further away being less inclined to avail themselves of such services (Jarvis, 1850). Hunter, Shannon, and Sambrook (1986) using modern inferential statistics reaffirmed Jarvis’s Law in 19th century U.S. and Canadian asylums. The researchers also proposed institutions emanated a “zone of indifference” of approximately 50-miles, beyond which Jarvis’s Law became a weaker force. Previous studies failed to include many southern asylums, including Georgia’s, Lunatic, Idiot and Epileptic asylum. Georgia’s facility offers a number of geospatial factors for consideration: the asylum was centrally located, it represented the sole state psychiatric facility, and the institution existed within the context of rapidly expanding counties. The present study—which appears in poster form, examines geospatial aspects of Jarvis law upon county admission rates to the Georgia facility using 50-mile districts during both the antebellum period (1842-1860) and post-bellum period (1866-1880) with GIS mapping using ArcPro software. Pearson product moment correlation showed significant inverse correlations between per capita admissions and distance for 1842-1850 (r = -0.259, n = 99, p = .01), 1866-1870 (r = -0.335, n = 132, p = .01), and 1871-1880 (r = -0.179, n = 133, p = .03); there was no significant relationship revealed for 1851-1860 (r = -0.093, n = 131, p = .290)

Sustainably Sourced, Thermally Resistant, Radiation Hard Biopolymer

This material represents a breakthrough in the production, manufacturing, and application of thermal protection system (TPS) materials and radiation shielding, as this represents the first effort to develop a non-metallic, non-ceramic, biomaterial-based, sustainable TPS with the capability to also act as radiation shielding. Until now, the standing philosophy for radiation shielding involved carrying the shielding at liftoff or utilizing onboard water sources. This shielding material could be grown onboard and applied as needed prior to different radiation landscapes (commonly seen during missions involving gravitational assists). The material is a bioplastic material. Bioplastics are any combination of a biopolymer and a plasticizer. In this case, the biopolymer is a starch-based material and a commonly accessible plasticizer. Starch molecules are composed of two major polymers: amylase and amylopectin. The biopolymer phenolic compounds are common to the ablative thermal protection system family of materials. With similar constituents come similar chemical ablation processes, with the potential to have comparable, if not better, ablation characteristics. It can also be used as a flame-resistant barrier for commercial applications in buildings, homes, cars, and heater firewall material. The biopolymer is observed to undergo chemical transformations (oxidative and structural degradation) at radiation doses that are 1,000 times the maximum dose of an unmanned mission (10-25 Mrad), indicating that it would be a viable candidate for robust radiation shielding. As a comparison, the total integrated radiation dose for a three-year manned mission to Mars is 0.1 krad, far below the radiation limit at which starch molecules degrade. For electron radiation, the biopolymer starches show minimal deterioration when exposed to energies greater than 180 keV. This flame-resistant, thermal-insulating material is non-hazardous and may be sustainably sourced. It poses no hazardous waste threats during its lifecycle. The material composition is radiation-tolerant up to megarad doses, indicating its use as a radiation shielding material. It is lightweight, non-metallic, and able to be mechanically densified, permitting a tunable gradient of thermal and radiation protection as needed. The dual-use (thermal and radiation shielding), sustainable nature of this material makes it suitable for both industrial applications as a sustainable/green building material, and for space applications as thermal protection material and radiation shield

Educational Migration: Brain Drain in Kentucky

Kentucky has been steadily growing in its bachelor degree holder production over the past ten years, with almost 4500 more college degree holders produced per year in 2010 than in 2000. The literature has shown that this is good news for the economic growth prospects of the state, because a more highly skilled work force means a higher potential for production. This newly educated workforce, however, will not help Kentucky to grow if they take those skills elsewhere. Using five-year American Community Survey data for Kentuckians over the age of 17, I was able to determine that Kentucky is not a brain drain state, but has actually been able to attract an estimated 2,930 college degree holders net of those lost to other states. Then, by breaking the state down into Public Use Microdata Areas, I was able to find patterns of loss or gain in human capital regionally. The golden triangle region of the state was not only the most saturated but also the most successful in attracting college degree holders. If the literature about matching is correct, then policy makers should continue and even enhance current policy aimed at increasing degree production and workforce development, if they wish to attract more high-skilled labor. This is because the theory on matching posits that regions with higher preexisting levels of human capital are better at attracting more highly skilled labor. Also, attention should be given to the state migration patterns evident in this study, with regards to the loss of college degree holders to southern states, and the gain of college degree holders from the bordering states to the north

What are Requirements and Why are They Your Friends... A Benevolent Introduction to Requirements

When first becoming involved in the development of a proposal or project, the process of building requirements is key. This presentation was produced for the PI Launchpad course, which brings together potential and first time Principal Investigators

Portable Fourier Transform Spectroscopy for Analysis of Surface Contamination and Quality Control

Progress has been made into adapting and enhancing a commercially available infrared spectrometer for the development of a handheld device for in-field measurements of the chemical composition of various samples of materials. The intent is to duplicate the functionality of a benchtop Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) within the compactness of a handheld instrument with significantly improved spectral responsivity. Existing commercial technology, like the deuterated L-alanine triglycine sulfide detectors (DLATGS), is capable of sensitive in-field chemical analysis. This proposed approach compares several subsystem elements of the FTIR inside of the commercial, non-benchtop system to the commercial benchtop systems. These subsystem elements are the detector, the preamplifier and associated electronics of the detector, the interferometer, associated readout parameters, and cooling. This effort will examine these different detector subsystem elements to look for limitations in each. These limitations will be explored collaboratively with the commercial provider, and will be prioritized to meet the deliverable objectives. The tool design will be that of a handheld gun containing the IR filament source and associated optics. It will operate in a point-and-shoot manner, pointing the source and optics at the sample under test and capturing the reflected response of the material in the same handheld gun. Data will be captured via the gun and ported to a laptop

Method of forming pointed structures

A method of forming an array of pointed structures comprises depositing a ferrofluid on a substrate, applying a magnetic field to the ferrofluid to generate an array of surface protrusions, and solidifying the surface protrusions to form the array of pointed structures. The pointed structures may have a tip radius ranging from approximately 10 nm to approximately 25 micron. Solidifying the surface protrusions may be carried out at a temperature ranging from approximately 10 degrees C. to approximately 30 degrees C

Non-Destructive Evaluation of Materials via Ultraviolet Spectroscopy

A document discusses the use of ultraviolet spectroscopy and imaging for the non-destructive evaluation of the degree of cure, aging, and other properties of resin-based composite materials. This method can be used in air, and is portable for field use. This method operates in reflectance, absorbance, and luminescence modes. The ultraviolet source is used to illuminate a composite surface of interest. In reflectance mode, the reflected response is acquired via the imaging system or via the spectrometer. The spectra are analyzed for organic compounds (conjugated organics) and inorganic compounds (semiconducting band-edge states; luminescing defect states such as silicates, used as adhesives for composite aerospace applications; and metal oxides commonly used as thermal coating paints on a wide range of spacecraft). The spectra are compared with a database for variation in conjugation, substitution, or length of molecule (in the case of organics) or band edge position (in the case of inorganics). This approach is useful in the understanding of material quality. It lacks the precision in defining the exact chemical structure that is found in other materials analysis techniques, but it is advantageous over methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared spectroscopy, and chromatography in that it can be used in the field to assess significant changes in chemical structure that may be linked to concerns associated with weaknesses or variations in structural integrity, without disassembly of or destruction to the structure of interest

Templates for Deposition of Microscopic Pointed Structures

Templates for fabricating sharply pointed microscopic peaks arranged in nearly regular planar arrays can be fabricated by a relatively inexpensive technique that has recently been demonstrated. Depending on the intended application, a semiconducting, insulating, or metallic film could be deposited on such a template by sputtering, thermal evaporation, pulsed laser deposition, or any other suitable conventional deposition technique. Pointed structures fabricated by use of these techniques may prove useful as photocathodes or field emitters in plasma television screens. Selected peaks could be removed from such structures and used individually as scanning tips in atomic force microscopy or mechanical surface profiling

Collaboratively Strengthening Water and Sanitation Systems in Low-Income and Weak-Governance Contexts

Water and sanitation services remain unequal, unreliable, and unsafe for too large a portion of our world's population. Challenges facing service delivery are multifaceted and intertwined, including high breakdown rates, weak or convoluted laws, insufficient financing mechanisms, and drought. Solving these challenges often falls on the shoulders of local governments, as many national governments decentralize service provision mandates. Especially in low-income and weak-governance contexts, overcoming service delivery challenges can exceed the scopes and skillsets of any single agency or department. Collaborative approaches are thus used by governments and international development actors as a way to bring all relevant, local stakeholders together to solve these problems through joint action and mutual responsibility. Understanding how collaborative approaches work in low-income and weak-governance contexts is therefore imperative to achieving universal, reliable access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services. There is a wealth of literature on collaborative approaches; however, this literature is limited in scope as nearly all published knowledge has focused on high-income country contexts. Working closely with experts from eleven cases in Eastern Africa, this dissertation investigated how collaborative approaches work in WASH contexts. I first synthesized literature and convened an expert panel to rate and prioritize factors that enable success in collaborative approaches in low-income and weak-governance contexts. To comprehensively understand how these factors worked on the ground, I used fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to investigate combinations of factors that drove progress. Results spurred a second fsQCA investigation into the sole factor that was necessary for progress in all cases: local government uptake. Finally, in response to methodological limitations that has prevented comprehensive investigations of alignment around a common objective, I developed a new method using network analysis and used it to map how alignment changed over time in two well-functioning collaborative approaches. Together, this dissertation provides evidence-based guidance on factors and processes that enable collaborative efforts to succeed, laying the groundwork for implementing collaborative approaches in the challenging and unique environment of WASH. Through its unique contributions, this dissertation charts a new course for more robust international development programming and theory development.</p

Spectroscopic & Structural Investigation of the Thermal Evolution of Undoped and Phosphorus Doped ZnO and Implications for Unipolar and Bipolar Device Fabrication

The main objective of this dissertation was to explore the structural, electrical, and optical properties of undoped and extrinsically doped thin film and single crystal ZnO under various growth and processing thermal conditions in the context of understanding intrinsic defect formation and extrinsic dopant incorporation. Undoped (000-1) ZnO thin films were grown by on-axis RF sputter deposition at a range of temperatures and in oxygen-rich and oxygen-deficient atmospheres. For comparison, ZnO single crystals were thermally processed under similar conditions. Samples were examined for temperature-dependent effects on surface and bulk properties for temperature-dependent changes in structure, semiconducting band gap, and Schottky barrier height in order to isolate temperature regions that may support conditions that minimize defect production. Phosphorus-doped (000-1) ZnO thin films were grown and doped ZnO crystals were prepared under the same conditions described above. Phosphorus was selected as a potential p-type dopant due to reduced concerns for outdiffusion of the dopant from the host crystal. Films were grown via sputter deposition. Crystals were prepared via planar (vapor) doping. By investigating undoped ZnO, this work expands current understanding of the fabrication of ZnO-based unipolar devices, such as Schottky diodes. To this end, the structure (surface and bulk), composition, optical, and electrical properties of ZnO single crystals were investigated as a function of annealing temperature and atmosphere. Near-surface diffusion of Zn atoms was found to influence the Schottky barrier height. Annealing conditions that minimize donor defect states, as detected by photoluminescence, were found. By investigating extrinsically doped ZnO, this work sheds light on the feasibility of bipolar device fabrication using ZnO. For film growth, we found a narrow window of deposition temperature and pressure that optimizes crystallinity and transmission in the ultraviolet spectrum for the preparation of p-type doped material. For single crystals, we found optimal conditions for p-type doping ZnO using phosphorus vapor. Results from Hall measurements of these doped single crystals allowed for a revision of the limits defined by previously existing experimental results in the "failure to dope" rule for ZnO