Mechanisms of polymer degradation using an oxygen plasma generator

An RF oxygen plasma generator was used to produce polymer degradation which appears to be similar to that which has been observed in low Earth orbit. Mechanisms of this type of degradation were studied by collecting the reaction products in a cryogenic trap and identifying the molecular species using infrared, mass spectral, and X-ray diffraction techniques. No structurally dependent species were found from Kapton, Teflon, or Saran polymers. However, very reactive free radical entities are produced during the polymer degradation, as well as carbon dioxide and water. Reactions of the free radicals with the glass reaction vessel, with copper metal in the cold trap, and with a triphenyl phosphate scavenger in the cold trap, demonstrated the reactivity of the primary products

Investigation of conductive thermal control coatings by a contactless method in vacuo

A technique for determining the conductance per unit area of thermal control coatings for electrostatically clean spacecraft is described. In order to simulate orbital conditions more closely, current-density-voltage (j-V) curves are obtained by a contactless method in which the paint on an aluminum substrate is the anode of a vacuum diode configuration with a tungsten filament cathode. Conductances per unit area which satisfy the International Sun Earth Explorer (ISEE) requirement were observed on black paints containing carbon and in white and green paints filled with zinc oxide which were fired in order to induce defect conductivity. Because of surface effects and the nonhomogeneous nature of paints, large discrepancies were found between measurements with the contactless method and measurements employing metallic contacts, particularly at low current densities. Therefore, measurements with metallic contacts are considered to be of questionable value in deciding the suitability of coatings for electrostatic charge control

Mathematics and German politics: The national socialist experience

AbstractDuring the Nazi period in Germany, an attempt was made to discern a kind of mathematics that was German as distinct from other ethnic or “racial” types of mathematics: a “Deutsche Mathematik.” While not denying the universal validity of all mathematical truths, such a “German” mathematics stressed ideology in terms of research and pedagogical styles. Because mathematics was nearly independent of anything material, it was—for the “Deutsche Mathematiker”—especially amenable to the Nazi argument that different racial psychological types exhibit different racial characters and modes of thought. This paper is a brief examination of the nature and intellectual content of “Deutsche Mathematik.

A comparison of the revised Stanford-Binet scale and the Terman-McNemar test of mental ability with respect to the prediction of scholastic achievement

Although more than fifty years have passed since the Frenchmen Alfred Binet and Theophile Simon published the first effective intelligence test, psychological testing has evolved through many stages since that time. There are many different types of psychological tests now, with numerous methods of interpretation. However, through all of this evolution the basic purpose of the tests has remained the same— to measure Individual differences. Just as Binet and Simon\u27s first intelligence test . . . succeeded in differentiating between children of various age and grade levels and made possible the prediction of the child\u27s progress in school, so psychological tests are still used for this purpose In our schools today

Isospin-Violating Dark Matter Benchmarks for Snowmass 2013

Isospin-violating dark matter (IVDM) generalizes the standard spin-independent scattering parameter space by introducing one additional parameter, the neutron-to-proton coupling ratio f_n/f_p. In IVDM the implications of direct detection experiments can be altered significantly. We review the motivations for considering IVDM and present benchmark models that illustrate some of the qualitatively different possibilities. IVDM strongly motivates the use of a variety of target nuclei in direct detection experiments.Comment: LaTeX, 5 pages, 4 figures. v2: minor figure revision

The Origins and Development of Higher Education for Negros in South Carolina to 1920

The term higher education for Negroes is usually applied to that intellectual training received by Negroes after the time of Emancipation and Reconstruction when inspired missionaries and democratic legislatures first established schools for the education of the ex-slaves. That this period marked the beginning of a systematized method of lifting the veils of ignorance from the eyes of the freedman is not to be doubted. It may be historically incorrect, however, to designate these efforts as the first attempts to educate the Negro, and especially may this be true with regard to the appellation higher education

An Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Survivor of Suicide Support Group Facilitator Scale: Identifying Meaningful Factors for Group Facilitation and Outcomes

Support groups for suicide loss survivors are a relatively common resource used by those who are left to cope in the aftermath of a suicide death. Though descriptive studies have been used to provide an overview of support groups in the past, there have been no efforts to understand nuances of these groups and the impact of these groups and differing facilitation styles on the bereavement experience for attendees. This study explores primary data collected between March 2015 and December 2015 with a sample of 138 survivor of suicide loss support group facilitators in the United States and several other countries. Meaning making and meaning reconstruction is presented as the primary theory used to examine the attitudes of support group facilitators. Basic analytic procedures were used to explore sample descriptives, and an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with an oblique rotation was used to identify the factors within the Survivor of Suicide Loss Support Group Facilitator Scale. Three factors were revealed with a simple structure, representing the latent themes of (1) Facilitator Perspective on the Role of the Story (α=.73), (2) Facilitator Perspective on the Role of the Facilitator (α=.63), and (3) Facilitator Perspective on Role of the Loss Survivor (α.59). Bivariate analyses revealed that factors 1 and 2 both had a significant relationship with length of time the facilitator had been leading the group, facilitator’s level of compassion satisfaction, and facilitator’s level of burnout. The findings of the EFA support the use of the scale as a tool to discern differences in attitudes about the role of meaning making and sharing of stories in the group as well as the role of the facilitator in aiding this process. The findings provide important information for understanding variation in support group facilitation styles and have implications for future exploration of outcomes for group attendees based on facilitator attitude and style. Implications for practice and future research are discussed