The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany Pinebush

The Albany Pinebush, a pitch pine-scrub oak sand barrens, was examined for robber flies and the results compared to historical records found in the New York State Museum, Albany. Thirty-six species were recorded of which seventeen were new records. Two species, Cyrtopogon laphriformis and Promachus bastardii, last recorded in 1914 and 1931, respectively, were not located in the survey

Developing Therapeutic Communication Skills: Integration of Standardized Client Simulation in an Associate Degree Nursing Program

By the year 2020, it is projected that there will be a shortage of 300,000 to one million registered nurses in the United States (Juraschek, Zhang, Ranganathan & Lin, 2012). Therapeutic communication skills are a fundamental and integral part of any registered nurse’s practice. Despite the importance of therapeutic communication, evidence suggests that the lack of skill development in nursing programs is having an adverse effect on the NCLEX-RN pass rate of graduating registered nurses. Identifying and addressing shortfalls in effective communication offers an opportunity to improve this pass rate. Learning to effectively communicate in a simulated situation will provide students an opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills of therapeutic communication. This doctoral project will provide the students an opportunity to practice their therapeutic communication skills as a clinical simulation integrated into the nursing curriculum. Two standardized client simulation scenarios were developed for this project. It is anticipated that having the opportunity to practice therapeutic communication skills and apply these skills to clinical situations, will ultimately improve the students’ confidence and the first-time pass rate for the NCLEX-RN exam

Neuronal imaging with ultrahigh dynamic range multiphoton microscopy

Multiphoton microscopes are hampered by limited dynamic range, preventing weak sample features from being detected in the presence of strong features, or preventing the capture of unpredictable bursts in sample strength. We present a digital electronic add-on technique that vastly improves the dynamic range of a multiphoton microscope while limiting potential photodamage. The add-on provides real-time negative feedback to regulate the laser power delivered to the sample, and a log representation of the sample strength to accommodate ultrahigh dynamic range without loss of information. No microscope hardware modifications are required, making the technique readily compatible with commercial instruments. Benefits are shown in both structural and in-vivo functional mouse brain imaging applications.R21 EY027549 - NEI NIH HH

Differential rotation measurement of soft X-Ray corona

The aim of this paper is to study the latitudinal variation in the solar rotation in soft X-ray corona. The time series bins are formed on different latitude regions of the solar full disk (SFD) images that extend from 80 degree South to 80 degree North. These SFD images are obtained with the soft X-ray telescope (SXT) on board the Yohkoh solar observatory. The autocorrelation analyses are performed with the time series that track the SXR flux modulations in the solar corona. Then for each year, extending from 1992 to 2001, we obtain the coronal sidereal rotation rate as a function of the latitude. The present analysis from SXR radiation reveals that; (i) the equatorial rotation rate of the corona is comparable to the rotation rate of the photosphere and the chromosphere, (ii) the differential profile with respect to the latitude varies throughout the period of the study; it is more in the year 1999 and least in 1994 and (iii) the equatorial rotation period varies systematically with sunspot numbers and indicates its dependence on the phases of the solar activity cycle.Comment: 9 Pages, 4 Figures, Accepted for Publication in MNRA

Transillumination techniques in ophthalmic imaging

In vivo imaging of the human cornea and retina is typically performed in a reflection geometry. Images are formed from light that has backscattered off corneal microstructures or backreflected from the retina. In this configuration, artifacts caused by superficial surface reflections are often encountered. These unwanted reflections can either globally overwhelm the signal or cause local glare, complicating reliable image quantification. This thesis describes a pair of alternative ophthalmic imaging techniques based instead on transmitted light, which inherently avoids these artifacts. For retinal (i.e. fundus) imaging, we describe a mesoscopic transmission imaging method, which we call transcranial fundus imaging. The method uses deeply penetrating near-infrared light delivered transcranially from the side of the head, and exploits multiple scattering to redirect a portion of the light towards the posterior eye. This unique transmission geometry simplifies absorption measurements and enables flash-free, non-mydriatic imaging as deep as the choroid. We use multispectral image sets taken with this new transillumination approach to estimate oxygen saturation in retinal blood vessels. In the cornea, we describe a new technique for non-contact phase-contrast microscopic imaging. It is based on fundus retro-reflection and back-illumination of the crystalline lens and cornea. To enhance phase-gradient contrast, we apply asymmetric illumination by illuminating one side of the fundus. The technique produces micron-scale lateral resolution across a 1-mm diagonal field of view. We show representative images of the epithelium, the subbasal nerve plexus, large stromal nerves, dendritic immune cells, endothelial nuclei, and the anterior crystalline lens, demonstrating the potential of this instrument for clinical applications

Understanding the impact of carrier mobility and mobile ions on perovskite cell performance

The realization of very high efficiency, stable perovskite solar cells fabricated on a large scale at low cost, has the potential to further lower the cost of photovoltaics. This necessitates an understanding of the properties required of the perovskite material, including the carrier mobility. Perovskite cells also feature mobile ionic species, and the impact of these ions on cell performance- A nd in particular, to what extent and under what circumstances they may limit device performance-is not well understood. Here, we employ an advanced numerical model that allows for the presence of mobile ionic species to probe the relationship between carrier mobility, the presence of ionic species as well as different possible recombination mechanisms within the cell. We show that a high electron and hole conductivity throughout the device is key to avoiding transport losses. For devices operating significantly below their radiative limit, achieving a sufficiently high conductivity requires high carrier mobilities of at least 10cm2/V-s. It is shown that the presence of a single mobile ionic species can lead to effective doping of the perovskite bulk, which is detrimental to cell performance by lowering the conductivity of one type of carrier. The results also indicate that increasing cell VOC closer to its radiative limit is also beneficial for reducing transport losses and pushing cell performance closer to its theoretical limit

“Lessons that simply cannot be lectured”: Highlighting the experiences and benefits of undergraduates engaged in community psychology research

Globally, Community Psychology (CP) currently struggles with a lack of visibility and a shortage of platforms from which to engage future researchers and practitioners. Many of these future researchers and practitioners study psychology as part of their undergraduate education, making psychology departments in undergraduate institutions an ideal point of exposure. Discouragingly, however, undergraduate students are unlikely to be exposed to CP in their course curriculums forcing students to seek out opportunities for exposure elsewhere (Jimenez, 2016; Glantsman, McMahon & Njoku et al., 2015). This is especially true of Community Psychology within the United States. This study aimed to explore how students got involved in CP research and the benefits of that involvement. A total of 34 former undergraduate research assistants involved in CP research teams at Michigan State University completed a 20-item online questionnaire comprised of open- and closed-ended questions. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively and qualitative data were analyzed using an iterative coding process. Results showed that the majority of students had no experience in CP and merely stumbled upon the research. Despite this, respondents reported gaining many skills, competencies, and knowledge during their time on the research teams. Respondents particularly benefited from: 1) gaining hands-on and community-based research skills; 2) attaining transferable skills they could carry with them in future positions; 3) acquiring CP-specific competencies; and 4) cultivating greater awareness and passion for social issues. Finally, the majority of respondents discussed how their involvement on CP research teams honed in their interest and passions and/or shaped their professional trajectory.  These findings provide preliminary evidence of the benefits of CP research involvement at an undergraduate level and has important implications for how CP as a field may choose to invest in undergraduate research opportunities.&nbsp