Toward a Comprehensive Response to the Transnational Migration of Unaccompanied Minors in the United States

The number of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum has dramatically increased in recent years. The international response has been both varied and at times opposed to the best interests of unaccompanied minors. The United States has chosen to respond through changing unaccompanied minors\u27 care and custody without addressing the need for changes in their substantive rights. However, it is necessary to broaden the interpretation of asylum standards to secure unaccompanied minors\u27 legal rights as children who suffer persecution because they lack primary caregivers

Traceable Micro-Force Sensor for Instrumented Indentation Calibration

Instrumented indentation testing (IIT), commonly referred to as nanoindentation when small forces are used, is a popular technique for determining the mechanical properties of small volumes of material. Sample preparation is relatively easy, usually requiring only that a smooth surface of the material to be tested be accessible to a contact probe, and instruments that combine sophisticated automation with straightforward user interfaces are available commercially from several manufacturers. In addition, documentary standards are now becoming available from both the International Standards Organization (ISO 14577) and ASTM International (E28 WK382) that define test methods and standard practices for IIT, and will allow the technique to be used to produce material property data that can be used in product specifications. These standards also define the required level of accuracy of the force data produced by IIT instruments, as well as methods to verify that accuracy. For forces below 10 mN, these requirements can be difficult to meet, particularly for instrument owners who need to verify the performance of their instrument as it is installed at their site. In this paper, we describe the development, performance and application of an SI-traceable force sensor system for potential use in the field calibration of commercial IIT instruments. The force sensor itself, based on an elastically deforming capacitance gauge, is small enough to mount in a commercial instrument as if it were a test specimen, and is used in conjunction with an ultra-high accuracy capacitance bridge. The sensor system is calibrated with NIST-traceable masses over the range 5.0 {micro}N through 5.0 mN. We will present data on its accuracy and precision, as well its potential application to the verification of force in commercial instrumented indentation instruments

Evaluation of a novel UHMWPE bearing for applications in precision slideways

This paper presents a novel slideway bearing design comprised of a thin-film (0.1 mm-0.2 mm) of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) bound to a rigid hemispherical substrate. Two prototype bearing designs were fabricated and tested to characterize the coefficient of friction (dynamic and static) and wear of the polymer. In addition, similar bearings were incorporated into a kinematically constrained rectilinear carriage to determine the repeatability of motion during multiple traverses. The first bearing had a radius of curvature on the order of 2.38 mm incorporating an UHMWPE film thickness between 0.1 mm and 0.2 mm. The friction coefficient was measured to be between 0.155 and 0.189 for normal loads of 11.5 N and 2.2 N, respectively at a surface speed of 4.2 mm {center_dot} s{sup -1}. This bearing failed after a traverse of approximately 700 m at a load of 11.5 N. A similar evaluation procedure was carried out on a bearing of radius 6.35 mm resulting in a friction coefficient between 0.125 and 0.185 at loads of 27.8 N and 2.2 N, respectively, and the bearing endured a traverse of over 2.2 km at a load of approximately 28 N (in both air and vacuum conditions) with a surface speed of 4.2 mm {center_dot} s{sup -1}. The second bearing prototype was further subjected to a repeatability test. In this setup, a carriage incorporating five bearings was traversed in a nominally linear path while vertical deviations for multiple traverses were measured by a custom built displacement sensor. Deviations from a linear path were observed to repeat to within a few nanometers about nominal variations of less than 10 nm for a traverse distance of 10 mm. This system and other subsystems used to characterize the friction coefficient and noise of the polymer bearing are presented

Design and Use of a Novel Apparatus for Measuring Capsule Fill Hole Conductance

Description and results of a novel apparatus for determining the flow conductance through a laser drilled hole in a spherical shell for inertial confinement fusion experiments are described. The instrument monitors the pressure of an enclosed volume containing the laser pressure drilled capsule as air bleeds through the hole into the shell. From these measurements one obtains the conductance of the fill hole. This system has proven to be a valuable tool for verifying the conduct conductance into the capsule in a timely and nondestructive manner

A comparison of drive mechanisms for precision motion controlled stages

This abstract presents a comparison of two drive mechanisms, a Rohlix{reg_sign} drive and a polymer nut drive, for precision motion controlled stages. A single-axis long-range stage with a 50 mm traverse combined with a short-range stage with a 16 {micro}m traverse at a operational bandwidth of 2.2 kHz were developed to evaluate the performance of the drives. The polymer nut and Rohlix{reg_sign} drives showed 4 nm RMS and 7 nm RMS positioning capabilities respectively, with traverses of 5 mm at a maximum velocity of 0.15 mm{sup -}s{sup -1} with the short range stage operating at a 2.2 kHz bandwidth. Further results will be presented in the subsequent sections

Controller strategy for a 6 DOF piezoelectric translation stage

A controller for the third generation, 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) piezoelectric translation stage shown in Figure 1 is presented. This was tested by monitoring all six coordinate motions using an orthogonal array of six, high-resolution capacitance gages. The full 6 DOF matrix transformations and controller block diagrams for this system have been measured and the system operated under closed loop control. Results of early experiments to determine the 21 open loop response functions as well as preliminary results showing the closed loop response for the 3 linear translations are presented in this abstract. The ultimate goal of this project is to incorporate this 6 DOF stage within a long range X-Y scanning system for nanometer pick-and-place capability over an area of 50 x 50 mm. The control strategy and early results from this system will be presented

Early testing of a coarse/fine precision motion control system

This abstract presents a brief overview of key components of a motion control stage for accurate nanometer level positioning for scanning specimens over an area measuring 50 mm x 50 mm. The completed system will utilize a short-range, third generation 6 degree-of-freedom fine motion control platform (4 microns, 160 micro-radians) carried by a long-range, two-axis x-y positioning system (50 mm x 50 mm). Motion of the controlled platform relative to a measurement frame will be measured using a heterodyne laser interferometer and capacitance sensing. The final stage will be mounted onto an isolation table in a vacuum chamber, itself on isolation supports mounted to a granite slab on bed rock and isolated from the main floor of the building. This whole system is housed in a temperature-controlled laboratory. It is envisaged that the current system will provide the ability to ''pick and place'' at nanometer levels and be used for long range scanning of specimens (including biological specimens), micro- /macroassembly, lithography and as a coordinate measuring machine (CMM). Furthermore, the system performance will be compared with other comparable systems at international locations such as, National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the UK, Technical University of Eindhoven (TUE) in the Netherlands, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Germany, and our own sub-atomic measuring machine (SAMM) [1, 2] at UNC-Charlotte. Critical requirements of the system are as follows: (1) Vacuum compatible to better than 20 mPa; (2) Range of 50 mm x 50 mm x 4 microns; (3) Maximum translation velocity of 5 mm {center_dot} s{sup -1}; (4) Sub-nanometer resolution; and (5) System accuracy of better than 10 nm

Ignition Target Fabrication and Fielding for the National Ignition Facility

Continued advances in the design of ignition targets have stimulating new development paths for target fabrication, with potentially important simplifications for fielding cryogenic ignition targets for the National Ignition Facility. Including graded dopants in ablators as well as optimizing capsule and fuel layer dimensions increase implosion stability. This has led to developments of micron-scale fill tubes to fill and field the targets. Rapid progress has been made in development of the graded dopant layers in capsules as well as their characterization, in fabrication methods for micro-fill-tubes, and in fuel fill control with these fill tubes. Phase-contrast x-ray radiography has allowed characterization of fuel layers in beryllium targets. This target development program includes participation from General Atomics, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory