Design of a Solid Freeform Fabrication Diamond Reactor

Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) has progressed from the visualization aided stage of computer aided designs (CAD) to rapid prototyping of structural parts. Among the promising techniques for producing structural prototypes is the technology ofchemical vapor deposition (CVD) ofpolycrystalline diamond. This paper discusses the thermodynamic and kinetic theories that suggest that structural diamond may be rapidly deposited at rates approaching 1 mmJhr from the vapor phase at metastable thermodynamic conditions. The design of a reactor that will produce structural diamond prototypes is discussed. This reactor combines downstream microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (DMWPECVD) with a scanned CO2 laser that locally heats the substrate to diamond deposition temperatures. The input:Fases are H2, 02' CH4, and Ar. The operating pressure range of the reactor is 1 x 10- to 7 x 102 Torr. The reactor is designed for in situ determination of deposit thickness while deposition occurs as well as having the capacity of fitting on an existing resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization time of flight mass spectroscopy (REMPITOFMS) apparatus that will allow for plasma diagnostics immediately above the heated substrate. Plasma diagnostics will be employed to determine the active metastable species that results in diamond deposition so that optimization can be made ofthe operating parameters to maximize diamond selectivity and deposition rate.Mechanical Engineerin

Plaintiff\u27s Exhibit 0020: 1988 Bay Village Police Report re: Eberling

Police report concerning Richard Eberling\u27s previous statements to the police that he had stolen a ring belonging to Marilyn Sheppard, and he had left blood in the Sheppard home when he cut himself washing the Sheppards\u27 windows.https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/plaintiff_exhibits_2000/1005/thumbnail.jp

Dual optical force plate for time resolved measurement of forces and pressure distributions beneath shoes and feet

Frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) imaging was used to perform remote optical measurements of the forces/pressures exerted beneath shoes and feet during a number of different training activities including countermovement jumps, jogging and drop jumps. A single camera was used to simultaneously image two acrylic, FTIR waveguide imaging elements from below, at frame rates up to 200 frames per second. The images obtained using the camera were converted into pressure/force maps using a previously developed theory which combines the mechanics of contact of soft objects and the scattering of evanescent waves. The forces obtained from the optical measurements were shown to be in good agreement with measurements obtained from load cells placed beneath the FTIR imaging elements. The ability to produce accurate spatial maps of the force/pressure distribution beneath soft contacting objects such as feet and shoe outsoles at high frame rates has numerous potential applications in sports sciences and medicine

Relative importance of climatic, geographic and socio-economic determinants of malaria in Malawi.

BACKGROUND: Malaria transmission is influenced by variations in meteorological conditions, which impact the biology of the parasite and its vector, but also socio-economic conditions, such as levels of urbanization, poverty and education, which impact human vulnerability and vector habitat. The many potential drivers of malaria, both extrinsic, such as climate, and intrinsic, such as population immunity are often difficult to disentangle. This presents a challenge for the modelling of malaria risk in space and time. METHODS: A statistical mixed model framework is proposed to model malaria risk at the district level in Malawi, using an age-stratified spatio-temporal dataset of malaria cases from July 2004 to June 2011. Several climatic, geographic and socio-economic factors thought to influence malaria incidence were tested in an exploratory model. In order to account for the unobserved confounding factors that influence malaria, which are not accounted for using measured covariates, a generalized linear mixed model was adopted, which included structured and unstructured spatial and temporal random effects. A hierarchical Bayesian framework using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation was used for model fitting and prediction. RESULTS: Using a stepwise model selection procedure, several explanatory variables were identified to have significant associations with malaria including climatic, cartographic and socio-economic data. Once intervention variations, unobserved confounding factors and spatial correlation were considered in a Bayesian framework, a final model emerged with statistically significant predictor variables limited to average precipitation (quadratic relation) and average temperature during the three months previous to the month of interest. CONCLUSIONS: When modelling malaria risk in Malawi it is important to account for spatial and temporal heterogeneity and correlation between districts. Once observed and unobserved confounding factors are allowed for, precipitation and temperature in the months prior to the malaria season of interest are found to significantly determine spatial and temporal variations of malaria incidence. Climate information was found to improve the estimation of malaria relative risk in 41% of the districts in Malawi, particularly at higher altitudes where transmission is irregular. This highlights the potential value of climate-driven seasonal malaria forecasts

Experimentally Validated Neutron Flux Simulation for TRIGA Large Irradiation Cell

The one megawatt TRIGA reactor at Texas A&M has various methods of irradiating samples, but one of the most unique dose positions is severely underutilized. This irradiation cell is a large space where samples may be placed for activation by moving the reactor bridge to a window on the wall of the cell and operating the reactor. Due to the cell's large size, neutron flux for experiments is difficult to resolve spatially, giving predictions of dose to samples a high level of uncertainty. To this end, Parallel Deterministic Transport (PDT), a rapidly maturing radiation transport code, is used to simulate the neutron flux distribution for reactor experiments in the cell. By utilizing PDT, a model for the cell is created, and experiments are performed to validate the computational results benefitting both the Nuclear Science Center (NSC) and PDT development. To construct the PDT model, the cell's geometry, material properties, and boundary conditions are necessary. By measuring the cell, identifying construction materials, and performing experiments to measure flux at various cell locations, input to the computational model is developed by constructing a mesh reflecting cell geometry, processing neutron interaction cross sections for cell materials, and fitting a surface to flux collected on the boundary, then discretizing flux in angle. After the model is constructed, it is validated by perturbing the boundary condition using error from the surface fit in an attempt to generate model results that bound the experimental data. While the model results in the epithermal region would benefit from inclusion of higher energy groups, the thermal model results bound almost half of the experiment data, giving confidence in the method's increased accuracy in future work

Empowering Youth Through Research: Adolescents’ Perceptions of Physical Activity Interventions in Appalachian Communities

Active participation in evaluation and research projects can empower youth and effect community change. Adolescents along with supervising teachers participating in after-school Health Sciences and Technology Academy clubs conducted research projects to increase physical activity in Appalachian communities. The sample involved 50 adolescents who participated across one of six focus groups. Two primary themes emerged from the focus groups, indicating the impact of the research experiences on students, teachers, and their communities. First, students reported increased public health and research competence as well as feelings of self-worth. Second, the participants reported developing a stronger sense of the barriers to and facilitators of physically active lifestyles relevant in their local communities. This research substantiates the “youth as asset” paradigm and suggests that involving adolescents in community health research benefits both them and their communities

Engaging Rural Youth in Physical Activity Promotion Research in an After-School Setting

BACKGROUND: West Virginia, the second most rural state in the nation, has a higher than average prevalence of chronic diseases, especially those related to physical inactivity and obesity. Innovative educational approaches are needed to increase physical activity among adults and youth in rural areas and reduce rural health disparities. This paper describes West Virginia's Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA) Education and Outreach on Healthy Weight and Physical Activity. The project involved teachers and underserved high school students in social science research aimed at increasing physical activity among student and community participants. CONTEXT: The HSTA is an ongoing initiative of university–school–community partnerships in West Virginia that offers academic enrichment to high-school students in after-school clubs. For this project, six HSTA clubs were awarded grants to conduct research on physical activity promotion during the 2003–2004 school year. The project was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. METHODS: Focus groups, workshops, and targeted technical assistance were used to assist teachers and students with developing, implementing, and evaluating their research projects. Each club completed one project, and students reported on their research at the annual HSTA symposium held in the spring. Teachers documented their experience with the projects in process journals before and during implementation. CONSEQUENCES: Data from the teachers' process journals revealed that they believed this research experience increased their students' interest in health and health science careers and increased their students' understanding of social science research methods. Challenges included lack of time after school to complete all activities, competing student activities, limited social science research experience of both teachers and students, and delays that resulted from a lengthy human subjects approval process. INTERPRETATION: The entire process was too ambitious to be achieved in one school year. Recommendations for future implementation include offering training modules on social science research methods for both teachers and students. These modules could be offered as a graduate course for teachers and as an in-school elective within the curriculum or as a summer institute for students. This preparatory training might alleviate some of the time management issues experienced by all the projects and could result in more skilled teacher and student researchers

Adolescents and Teachers as Partners in a School-Based Research Project to Increase Physical Activity Opportunities in a Rural Community

Schools are an important resource in combating the physical inactivity and obesity epidemics in rural economically depressed areas. Through a University-community partnership, teachers and adolescents in a rural West Virginia county with one of the highest obesity rates in the state developed a school-based research intervention to increase physical activity opportunities. The intervention included walking routes, educational sessions, and pedometers. A survey about barriers to physical activity revealed that “lack of willpower” was a barrier of concern among program participants (mostly school employees) and had a statistically significant (p = .0033) pre to post mean score decrease during the year two offering. Focus groups with the adolescent researchers revealed that pedometers may facilitate maintenance of physical activity and a broader community impact. Focus group dialogue combined with teacher-researcher perspectives suggested that the adolescents changed their weight control paradigm from “dieting” to include the critical role of energy expenditure. Approval to conduct this research was provided by the West Virginia University Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects Protocols No. 16041 and 15632. A poster based on this paper was presented at the 135th Annual Meeting & Exposition of the American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, November, 2007. The authors are very appreciative of the HSTA students for their continued efforts in addressing important public health problems in their community. The project described was supported by funds from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Grant Award No. H75CCH322130-02 through the West Virginia University Prevention Research Center and by Grant Number 2R25RR12329-04 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC, NCRR, or NIH

Fabrication and implementation of compact, low-power, three-dimensional, Cockcroft-Walton photomultiplier tube power supplies

Master of ScienceDepartment of Mechanical and Nuclear EngineeringWalter J McNeilA photomultiplier tube high-voltage power supply was constructed using a ”Free-Form” method of fabrication. The main goal of this project was to benchmark the performance of an experimental additive manufactured high-voltage power supply that is currently being investigated at Kansas State University. This is achieved through the comparison of non-traditional methods and material to traditional materials of the same circuit in a similar oriented geometry. A printed circuit board layout was considered to be insufficient for comparison due to the large differences in geometry compared to the 3-dimensional additive circuit. The method used to provide high-voltage and proper dynode stage biasing was a half-wave Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier. The 3-dimensional orientation was achieved through the Free-Form process with surface mount devices connected end-to-end or stacked together to form 3-dimensional shapes using temporary scaffolding and supports. This construction method used a low component-count design that was developed in an earlier phase of the project. The Free-Form method along with the previously designed circuit helped achieve a minimal package footprint while offering reliable biasing to the dynode stages. This work includes an in-depth description of the Free-Form construction methods used to produce the 3-dimensional circuit along with electrical characteristic testing, and spectral analysis results. A comparison for size and weight was made between the prototypes and the commercially available E11807-01 resistive divider base. A performance comparison was made using an external +5V supply for the prototypes and an external NHQ 103M highvoltage power supply for the E11807-01. The electrical characteristic measurements included dynode stage voltages, photocathode regulation, photocathode voltage stability, and power consumption. Spectral analysis was conducted using the following check sources, 137Cs, 60Co, and 22Na. The prototypes and the E11807-01 were tested using a CsI(Na) crystal attached to an R11265U series photomultiplier tube. A total of two prototypes were produced using the Free-Form fabrication method. The final bulk dimensions for prototype A are 2.99 x 2.78 x 0.75 cm with a weight of 7.73g. Prototype B’s final bulk dimensions are 2.98 x 2.77 x 0.87 cm with a weight of 8.7g. The final dimensions of the additive manufactured printed experimental power supply that is being benchmarked are 2.99 x 2.77 x 0.65 cm with a weight of 8.36g. A 38.8% reduction in volume and a 34.7% reduction in weight was achieved through the Free-Form fabrication method when compared to the E11807-01 resistive divider. The photocathode voltage regulation values about its set point achieved for each prototype were +0.36% -0.60% for prototype A, +0.35% -0.83% for prototype B, and ±0.68% for the printed prototype. The maximum power consumption of each prototype while driving the photomultiplier tube were 53.41 mW for both prototype A and B and 69.53 mW for the printed prototype. The energy resolution’s measured for the full Cs-137 energy peak using a CsI(Na) crystal were 6.949% for prototype A, 7.851% for prototype B, 6.93% for the printed prototype, and 6.855% for the E11807-01

Thermal Cycling of Thin and Thick Ply Composites

An experimental study was conducted to determine the effects of ply thickness in composite laminates on thermally induced cracking and changes in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). After a few thermal cycles, laminates with thick-plies cracked, resulting in large changes in CTE. CTE's of the thin-ply laminates were unaffected by microcracking during the first 500 thermal cycles, whereas, the CTE's of the thick-ply laminates changed significantly. After about 1500 cycles, microdamage had also reduced the CTE of the thin-ply laminates to a value of about half of their initial value