The Impact of 8(a) Small Business Graduation

The 8(a) small business set-aside program is designed to support small business participation in the federal market and to foster small business growth. However, 8(a) graduates do not fare well over time, with more than 60% no longer receiving federal prime contract obligations less than 10 years after graduation from set-aside eligibility. Those who were still federal prime contractors gained very little additional government business, with the average contract obligation up only 3.3% to $6.25 million, from$6.05 million (showing a decline when adjusting for inflation). Additionally, 8(a) graduates still depended on set-asides for more than half of their federal prime contract dollars. Overall, they are not rewarded for graduation.Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research Progra

Monolayer MoS2 strained to 1.3% with a microelectromechanical system

We report on a modified transfer technique for atomically thin materials integrated onto microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for studying strain physics and creating strain-based devices. Our method tolerates the non-planar structures and fragility of MEMS, while still providing precise positioning and crack free transfer of flakes. Further, our method used the transfer polymer to anchor the 2D crystal to the MEMS, which reduces the fabrication time, increases the yield, and allowed us to exploit the strong mechanical coupling between 2D crystal and polymer to strain the atomically thin system. We successfully strained single atomic layers of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) with MEMS devices for the first time and achieved greater than 1.3% strain, marking a major milestone for incorporating 2D materials with MEMS We used the established strain response of MoS2 Raman and Photoluminescence spectra to deduce the strain in our crystals and provide a consistency check. We found good comparison between our experiment and literature.Published versio

The Historical Scene Investigation (HSI) Project: Examining the Use of Case Based Historical Instruction in the Fifth Grade Social Studies Classroom

The Historical Scene Investigation (HSI) project is designed to help teachers integrate historical investigations into their K-12 history instruction. The HSI project materials provide streamlined and aesthetically engaging Web-based historical investigation exercises. Each case exercise engages students in a historical investigation using rich and varied historical primary sources scaffolded by document-study prompts and activities requiring specific analytical skills and processes. The HSI project, originally developed in 2001 by the principal investigators of this study, has undergone numerous revisions in efforts to extend topical coverage and more explicitly align online materials with state content standards for history. In addition, revisions focused on matching the chronological sequence of cases to a sequence of historical thinking skills, and, finally, on ensuring that the technical aspects and functionality of the program more easily supported teacher and student use of each investigation. In this study, the authors examine the historical evidentiary reasoning of fifth-grade students following HSI-based instruction. In particular, they wanted to know if discrete, short-term exposure to the HSI materials and activities strengthened the development of historical thinking such as historical causality and perspective

Volume 4 Issue 2 (Complete Spring 2017)

A complete version of LMU Law Review Volume Issue 2 for Spring 2017

Band Gap Engineering with Ultralarge Biaxial Strains in Suspended Monolayer MoS2

We demonstrate the continuous and reversible tuning of the optical band gap of suspended monolayer MoS2 membranes by as much as 500 meV by applying very large biaxial strains. By using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to grow crystals that are highly impermeable to gas, we are able to apply a pressure difference across suspended membranes to induce biaxial strains. We observe the effect of strain on the energy and intensity of the peaks in the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum, and find a linear tuning rate of the optical band gap of 99 meV/%. This method is then used to study the PL spectra of bilayer and trilayer devices under strain, and to find the shift rates and Gr\"uneisen parameters of two Raman modes in monolayer MoS2. Finally, we use this result to show that we can apply biaxial strains as large as 5.6% across micron sized areas, and report evidence for the strain tuning of higher level optical transitions.Comment: Nano Lett., Article ASA

Struggles, strengths, and strategies: an ethnographic study exploring the experiences of adolescents living with an ostomy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adolescents with IBD requiring ostomy surgery experience perioperative needs that may exceed those of patients experiencing other major abdominal surgery <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr></abbrgrp>. This procedure requires ongoing and vigilant daily care and management. Gastrointestinal symptoms and complications impose psychological and social stresses on young patients <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B2">2</abbr></abbrgrp>, and the procedure results in body image changes and daily regimens of self-care. This study aimed to explore adolescents' experiences and quality of life following ostomy surgery.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ethnographic interviews and a subsequent focus group were conducted with 20 adolescents with an ostomy or j-pouch being treated at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to theme generation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Findings suggest that adolescents are profoundly affected by their ostomy. Adolescents convey strength as well as adjustment struggles. Identified impacts include body intrusion and body image changes, decreased independence, secrecy about the ostomy, adjustment over time, challenges for the family, and strategies for constructively moving forward.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Implications address the importance of ensuring meaningful opportunities to understand and reframe the stresses of illness. An ongoing clinical challenge involves the promotion of a healthy self-esteem and psychosocial adjustment for these adolescents and their families. Finding effective ways to minimize stress and embarrassment and reframe personal shame, constitute important clinical priorities. Opportunities for peer support and family dialogue may assist in clarifying worries and easing the burden carried by these young persons. Flexible and adequately funded resources are advocated in fostering quality of life.</p

8.9 hr rotation in the partly burnt runaway stellar remnant LP 40-365 (GD 492)

We report the detection of 8.914 hr variability in both optical and ultraviolet light curves of LP 40-365 (also known as GD 492), the prototype for a class of partly burnt runaway stars that have been ejected from a binary due to a thermonuclear supernova event. We first detected this 1.0% amplitude variation in optical photometry collected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Reanalysis of observations from the Hubble Space Telescope at the TESS period and ephemeris reveal a 5.8% variation in the ultraviolet of this 9800 K stellar remnant. We propose that this 8.914 hr photometric variation reveals the current surface rotation rate of LP 40-365, and is caused by some kind of surface inhomogeneity rotating in and out of view, though a lack of observed Zeeman splitting puts an upper limit on the magnetic field of <20 kG. We explore ways in which the present rotation period can constrain progenitor scenarios if angular momentum was mostly conserved, which suggests that the survivor LP 40-365 was not the donor star but was most likely the bound remnant of a mostly disrupted white dwarf that underwent advanced burning from an underluminous (Type Iax) supernova.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version