Cultivating Empathy: New Perspectives on Educating Business Leaders

Beyond rules, procedures, and manuals lie relationships. Jettisoning a formal hierarchical company structure allows all levels of management and employees to positively interact – this is where the key driver of “empathy” is so critical to continue building these relationships and molding a common organizational purpose

NASA Low-Speed Centrifugal Compressor for Fundamental Research

A centrifugal compressor facility being built by the NASA Lewis Research Center is described; its purpose is to obtain benchmark experimental data for internal flow code verification and modeling. The facility will be heavily instrumented with standard pressure and temperature probes and have provisions for flow visualization and laser Doppler velocimetry. The facility will accommodate rotational speeds to 2400 rpm and will be rated at pressures to 1.25 atm. The initial compressor stage for testing is geometrically and dynamically representative of modern high-performance stages with the exception of Mach number levels. Design exit tip speed for the initial stage is 500 ft/sec with a pressure ratio of 1.17. The rotor exit backsweep is 55 deg from radial

Soft 3D fibrin matrices downregulate FAK expression to promote self-renewal of tumor-repopulating cells

Tumor-repopulating cells are a highly tumorigenic subpopulation of cancer cells that exhibit stem cell-like properties (e.g. self-renewal). Previous reports have shown that soft 3D fibrin matrices promote self-renewal in TRCs by promoting histone 3 lysine residue 9 (H3K9) de-methylation and Sox2 expression [1]. However, the underlying mechanism(s) by which soft 3D fibrin matrices promote H3K9 de-methylation and Sox2 expression remain elusive. In this study we show that focal adhesion kinase (FAK) regulates Sox2 expression and H3K9 de-methylation through cell division control protein 42 homolog (Cdc42). In comparison to control melanoma cells, TRCs exhibit low FAK and Cdc42 expression. Overexpressing FAK or Cdc42 in TRCs cultured in soft 3D fibrin matrices promotes H3K9 methylation, decreases Sox expression, and suppresses colony growth. Knocking down FAK or Cdc42 expression in control melanoma cells promotes H3K9 de-methylation, increases Sox2 expression, and enhances colony growth in stiff 3D fibrin matrices. Overexpressing Cdc42 in FAK-knock down control melanoma cells inhibits H3K9 de-methylation

Formation of Embedded Nitride Semiconductor Nanocrystals.

In this thesis, the formation, phase selection, and spatial positioning of GaAs:N (InAs:N) nanocomposite layers produced by N-implantation, focused ion beam (FIB) irradiation, and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) of GaAs (InAs) were investigated. To examine nanocrystal formation mechanisms, the influence of annealing temperature and annealing time on phase formation in GaAs:N were examined. For RTA times of 30 s, we observed the nucleation of zincblende (ZB) GaN at temperatures of 650 to 900ºC. For furnace anneal (FA) times of 10 min, wurtzite (WZ) GaN nucleation was observed for anneal temperatures as low as 650ºC. In the case of InAs:N, for RTA at 500-550ºC ZB InN nanocrystals were nucleated. However, RTA temperatures of 600ºC led to the nucleation of WZ InN nanocrystals with a larger average diameter. These results indicated the key role of annealing time and temperature on crystallite nucleation. A TTT diagram was developed for GaN nucleation in ion-implanted GaAs. The TTT diagram provides an annealing schedule for the selective formation of ZB and WZ GaN. The formation mechanisms for nucleation of ZB and WZ GaN (InN) were investigated and a thermodynamic model for the preferential nucleation of the ZB phase was proposed. ZB nanocrystals had a higher density of low-energy surface planes, which drove the adoption of the ZB phase for sufficiently small nuclei. We demonstrated the first nucleation of ZB and WZ InN in InAs using ion-implantation followed by thermal annealing. Finally, a new process for simultaneous nanostructuring and phase selection, termed “directed matrix seeding,” was demonstrated. Broad-area N+ implantation of GaAs followed by rapid thermal annealing led to the formation of nanocrystals at the depth of maximum ion damage. With additional irradiation using a Ga+ focused ion beam, selective lateral positioning of the nanocrystals within the GaAs matrix was observed in isolated regions of increased vacancy concentration. Following rapid thermal annealing, the formation of zincblende GaN was observed in the regions of highest vacancy concentration. The directed matrix seeding process offers a method for precisely controlling the phase and spatial location of embedded nitride nanostructures in a variety of host materials.Ph.D.PhysicsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91523/1/adamww_1.pd

A Long-Term Hydrologically-Based Data Set of Land Surface Fluxes and States for the Conterminous United States

A frequently encountered difficulty in assessing model-predicted land–atmosphere exchanges of moisture and energy is the absence of comprehensive observations to which model predictions can be compared at the spatial and temporal resolutions at which the models operate. Various methods have been used to evaluate the land surface schemes in coupled models, including comparisons of model-predicted evapotranspiration with values derived from atmospheric water balances, comparison of model-predicted energy and radiative fluxes with tower measurements during periods of intensive observations, comparison of model-predicted runoff with observed streamflow, and comparison of model predictions of soil moisture with spatial averages of point observations. While these approaches have provided useful model diagnostic information, the observation-based products used in the comparisons typically are inconsistent with the model variables with which they are compared—for example, observations are for points or areas much smaller than the model spatial resolution, comparisons are restricted to temporal averages, or the spatial scale is large compared to that resolved by the model. Furthermore, none of the datasets available at present allow an evaluation of the interaction of the water balance components over large regions for long periods. In this study, a model-derived dataset of land surface states and fluxes is presented for the conterminous United States and portions of Canada and Mexico. The dataset spans the period 1950–2000, and is at a 3-h time step with a spatial resolution of ⅛ degree. The data are distinct from reanalysis products in that precipitation is a gridded product derived directly from observations, and both the land surface water and energy budgets balance at every time step. The surface forcings include precipitation and air temperature (both gridded from observations), and derived downward solar and longwave radiation, vapor pressure deficit, and wind. Simulated runoff is shown to match observations quite well over large river basins. On this basis, and given the physically based model parameterizations, it is argued that other terms in the surface water balance (e.g., soil moisture and evapotranspiration) are well represented, at least for the purposes of diagnostic studies such as those in which atmospheric model reanalysis products have been widely used. These characteristics make this dataset useful for a variety of studies, especially where ground observations are lacking

Lifetime performance characteristics of screen-printed potentiometric Ag/AgCl chloride sensors

Ag/AgCl chloride sensors were fabricated using thick-film technology. A number of different formulations were prepared and chloride responses were investigated over time. Near Nernstian, identical responses were observed over the first 160 days with an average chloride sensitivity of -51.8 ± 0.4 mV per decade change in chloride concentration (pCl), irrespective of paste formulation. After 6- months continuous immersion in tap water, pastes formulated with a glass binder began to exhibit a loss in sensitivity whilst those formulated from a commercial thickfilm dielectric paste remained functional for the best part of a year. The difference is attributed to the inclusion of proprietary additives in the commercial paste aiding adhesion and minimising AgCl leaching

Screen-printed platinum electrodes for measuring crevice corrosion: Nickel aluminium bronze as an example

Screen-printed platinum electrodes were used to monitor crevice corrosion processes. The electrodes, printed on an inert alumina substrate, formed the bottom of an artificial crevice when mechanically clamped to a rectangular block of nickel-aluminium bronze (NAB). Cyclic differential pulse voltammetry was used to detect corrosion products over time whilst the assembly was immersed in a 3.5% by weight aqueous solution of sodium chloride. Cupric (Cu2+), ferric (Fe3+) and ferrous (Fe2+) ions were detected with evolution profiles indicative of selective phase corrosion