The black jessamine.

The play follows a prosperous family in an Oklahoma rural town. Garret Bedford is the owner of a large oil company. The town was founded on the Bedfords' wealth, therefore the residents regard Garret as a saint. However,Garret is an alcoholic, abusive man who has an adulterous affair with his sister's daughter, Eliza. The affair turns out to be a setup for Eliza and her husband, Hector, to exploit her uncle and blackmail him into giving them ten million dollars

Building Capacity: How A Local Government Agency Can Support Partners In Offering Environmental Education For Youth

This project addressed the research question: what are the most effective strategies for a local government agency to support partner organizations in implementing environmental education for youth? Environmental education partners from a large county in Minnesota participated in group conversations to explore questions related to the definition of, benefits of, barriers to and strategies for environmental education. Additional research methods included a pre-questionnaire to learn more about the group conversation participants and an online survey to get broader participations and prioritize the goals, key elements, topics, benefits, barriers and strategies for environmental education. The project results were compared to information gathered from experts in the environmental education field both locally and nationally, including Athman and Monroe, Bodzin et al., Kennedy and Stromme, Ledermann, Monroe and Krasney, the North American Association for Environmental Education, the National Environmental Education Advisory Council, the National Environmental Education Foundation, and the United Nations. The definition, goals and key elements of environmental education described by project participants focus on motivating behavior change, developing critical-thinking, problem- solving, and decision-making skills, fostering a connection to the environment and supporting lifelong learning. This aligns closely with the definition of environmental education established more than 40 years ago by the Tbilisi Declaration. Important benefits of environmental education include increasing interesting in taking action to protect the environment, promoting well-being, increasing understanding of real-world issues, helping people understand their connection to the environment, and improving engagement in learning. Project participants highlighted barriers to environmental education presented by participants, including lack of interest, challenges with making environmental issues relevant, and cultural barriers. Additional barriers include defining and integrating environmental education, lack of educator time, knowledge and interest, and lack of leadership support and resources. Strategies suggested to enhance and improve environmental education include supporting partnerships and program development, defining and championing environmental education, developing local and relevant resources, changing curriculum and standards, and providing professional development and networking opportunities

Process Optimization and Downscaling of a Single Electron Single Dot Memory

This paper presents the process optimization of a single-electron nanoflash electron memory. Self-aligned single dot memory structures have been fabricated using a wet anisotropic oxidation of a silicon nanowire. One of the main issue was to clarify the process conditions for the dot formation. Based on the process modeling, the influence of various parameters (oxidation temperature, nanowire shape) has been investigated. The necessity of a sharp compromise between these different parameters to ensure the presence of the memory dot has been established. In order to propose an aggressive memory cell, the downscaling of the device has been carefully studied. Scaling rules show that the size of the original device could be reduced by a factor of 2. This point has been previously confirmed by the realization of single-electron memory devices

Construction of a laboratory type, convertible excitation argon laser

The purpose of this thesis is to describe the construction of a general purpose, convertable [sic] excitation, laboratory type, argon laser. Quartz tubing was used in the final model while attempts to use alumina were made during earlier work. The final model has total optical power output of 230 mw at a discharge current of 29 amperes in the dc excitation mode. Provision was also made to utilize RF or pulsed excitation. The device is built so that several values of optical transmittance are available with a wide range of mirror placement --Abstract, page ii

The influence of residual oxidizing impurities on the synthesis of graphene by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition

The growth of graphene on copper by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition in a system free of pumping equipment is investigated. The emphasis is put on the necessity of hydrogen presence during graphene synthesis and cooling. In the absence of hydrogen during the growth step or cooling at slow rate, weak carbon coverage, consisting mostly of oxidized and amorphous carbon, is obtained on the copper catalyst. The oxidation originates from the inevitable occurrence of residual oxidizing impurities in the reactor's atmosphere. Graphene with appreciable coverage can be grown within the vacuum-free furnace only upon admitting hydrogen during the growth step. After formation, it is preserved from the destructive effect of residual oxidizing contaminants once exposure at high temperature is minimized by fast cooling or hydrogen flow. Under these conditions, micrometer-sized hexagon-shaped graphene domains of high structural quality are achieved.Comment: Accepted in Carbo

A Storytelling, Social-Belonging Intervention in an Introductory Computer Science Course

A brief social-belonging intervention was tested in two introductory computer science (CS) courses. This intervention used storytelling to help improve a sense of belonging and establish the importance of persistence in the classroom. In previous experiments using this one-time intervention, there were significant results (Walton & Brady, 2017). Recent CS graduates were interviewed about their own struggles and failures in their computer science courses. These interviews were videotaped and edited to follow the storytelling pattern of a struggle, followed by an attribution, and concluding with redemption. Interviewees were selected to represent a diverse group of students including both dominant majority and under-represented minority populations. Storytelling videos (as well as control videos) were viewed by approximately 300 introductory-level students during small group recitation-like sessions. Survey data was collected that measured student’s perception of their own belonging to the field of CS. Additionally, students were asked to respond to mock scenarios, gathering data on their attitudes and beliefs on how much other students belong in CS. This paper focuses on the design and implementation of this type of intervention, including a sample transcript of some of the stories. It also summarizes the preliminary results from testing this out in the summer 2018 term. Quantitative results are presented based on students who saw the storytelling videos and those who did not. Also, open ended responses are summarized to demonstrate the effectiveness of this intervention

Identifying and abating copper foil impurities to optimize graphene growth

Copper foil impurities are hampering scalable production of high-quality graphene by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Here, we conduct a thorough study on the origin of these unavoidable contaminations at the surface of copper after the CVD process. We identify two distinct origins for the impurities. The first type is intrinsic impurities, originating from the manufacturing process of the copper foils, already present at the surface before any high-temperature treatment, or buried into the bulk of copper foils. The buried impurities diffuse towards the copper surface during high-temperature treatment and precipitate. The second source is external: silica contamination arising from the quartz tube that also precipitate on copper. The problem of the extrinsic silica contamination is readily solved upon using an adequate confinement the copper foil samples. The intrinsic impurities are much more difficult to remove since they appear spread in the whole foil. Nevertheless, electropolishing proves particularly efficient in drastically reducing the issue.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figure

The PET and LIM1-2 domains of testin contribute to intramolecular and homodimeric interactions

The focal adhesion protein testin is a modular scaffold and tumour suppressor that consists of an N-terminal cysteine rich (CR) domain, a PET domain of unknown function and three C-terminal LIM domains. Testin has been proposed to have an open and a closed conformation based on the observation that its N-terminal half and C-terminal half directly interact. Here we extend the testin conformational model by demonstrating that testin can also form an antiparallel homodimer. In support of this extended model we determined that the testin region (amino acids 52-233) harbouring the PET domain interacts with the C-terminal LIM1-2 domains in vitro and in cells, and assign a critical role to tyrosine 288 in this interaction

A Complete Redesign of Freshmen Engineering Course

This interactive session will provide the audience with a full description of the redesign of the freshmen engineering course at Fairfield University. In addition, participants will be led through several of the active learning experiences similar to those used in the course, thus having the opportunity to experience the class first hand. The session will cover: the history of the class, the backward design process used to revitalize the course, the linkages made between course outcomes, course goals, accreditation requirements, and the University’s core pathways, and, finally, it will conclude with results and feedback on how effective the redesign was. Participants will also get to have some time for small and large group reflection on what was learned