The Two-Wheeled World of George B. Thayer

Review of: The Two-Wheeled World of George B. Thayer, by Kevin J. Haye

An XPS study of space-exposed polyimide film

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to assess changes induced in the surface chemistry of Kapton H (Du Pont Trademark) polyimide strips exposed to the low Earth orbit environment at the space-end of the LDEF satellite on Experiment A0133. Results from flight specimens are compared to material cut from the same lot and stored at room temperature under standard atmospheric conditions. One notable difference was a nearly two-fold increase in surface oxygen (atom-percent composition) for specimens exposed to the direct space environment as compared to controls. In addition, space exposed specimens contained distinct silicon peaks (2p 103.2 eV and 2s 154.2 eV) in their spectra. These peaks were absent in control spectra. It is likely that the increase in oxygen is associated with the silicon. This is in agreement with reports of widespread silicon contamination throughout the LDEF satellite

An American Cycling Odyssey, 1887

Review of: An American Cycling Odyssey, 1887. Hayes, Kevin J

Photonic ablation via quantum tunneling

Contemporary laser delivery techniques utilized in clinical dermatology allow for a dangerous amount of high-intensity laser light to reflect off a multitude of surfaces, including the patient's skin. Seeing as this stray light poses a consistent threat to the safety of both patients and practitioners alike, the intention of this work was to develop a technique to mitigate the potential for adverse reflections by delivering the light directly into the tissue through physical contact with an optical waveguide. It is also anticipated that delivering the light directly into the tissue will aid in the mitigation of negative tissue effects by replacing the tissue-air interface with a tissue-waveguide interface, thereby encouraging thermal conductivity through the use of contact cooling modalities. The technique demonstrated herein represents a controlled method of laser delivery utilizing metal thin films to regulate energy delivery into the tissue

Paraxial application of auxiliary devices with waveguide mediated laser irradiation for applications in medical biophotonics

Laser-based medical applications offer minimally-invasive alternatives to traditional procedures; however, the simplistic method of open-air laser transmission poses ocular hazards and negative side effects, along with a fundamentally limited efficacy for patients of darker complexion due to strong optical absorption in the epidermis. Additionally, the traditional irradiation method also inhibits the incorporation of additional technologies that might otherwise enhance therapeutic effects or provide diagnostic benefits, as doing so would otherwise occlude the laser beam path. The research presented herein addresses each of these considerations individually, first by transmitting laser light into tissue through direct contact with a selective-release waveguide, and thereafter incorporating auxiliary equipment on its rear face. Metal clad planar optical waveguides are demonstrated for the transmission of laser light into samples of porcine skin through direct transmission, governed by scaling evanescent leaking through a designated active area by controlling thin film thickness. In one manifestation, an ultrasonic pulser was incorporated to modulate tissue optical properties and thereby improve transmission of light through epidermal and dermal tissues by increasing forward anisotropy; whereas in another, a high frequency ultrasonic transducer was incorporated to detect photoacoustically generated pressure waves to determine depth profiles of chromophores in skin as a foundation for clinical backward-mode photoacoustic tomography.Includes biblographical reference

Saudade

The title of this thesis comes from the Portuguese term, "saudade." Saudade is more than our English idea of melancholy--it can be thought of as "the love that remains" in an absence. For the purposes of the project, the poems in Saudade explore the relationship between memory, music, and perspective in relationships taking place in a contemporary urban pastoral. Specifically, the poems address relationships--usually romantic--between men. As a gay man, I feel it is especially important to write from my own experiences as a member of such a community. The work in conversation with contemporary poets such as Frank Bidart, Richard Siken, Craig Arnold, and Kathleen Graber, reaching back even to C.P. Cavafy. The poems' speakers are faced with one of life's most confounding desires--to know for certain the thoughts and feelings of the beloved. How is shared meaning communicated by two people who are socialized not to speak about their emotions? The poems search for perspective, a safe place where they might access the individual experience or viewpoint of the other. The tension between intense feeling and a lack of ability to communicate with the object of that feeling is central to the poems in Saudade. Some of the work (exemplified by the poem "Mahler's Symphony No. 1 in D Major") has begun to transcend the "you-I" binary in order to explore the possibilities of the speaker sharing elements of the internal life with a general audience. This work explores the public-private tension so germane to contemporary discourse