Building Bridges and Crossing Borders: Using Service Learning to Overcome Cultural Barriers to Collaboration Between Science and Education Departments

Science faculty and teacher education faculty need to coordinate in order to prepare teachers to teach science. This article describes several successful and unsuccessful collaboration efforts between scientists and educators that took place during the creation of an interdepartmental service learning project, Science Outreach, at George Fox University

Polarization spectroscopy of an excited state transition.

We demonstrate polarization spectroscopy of an excited state transition in room-temperature cesium vapor. An anisotropy induced by a circularly polarized pump beam on the D2 transition is observed using a weak probe on the 6P3/2→7S1/2 transition. At high pump power, a subfeature due to Autler-Townes splitting is observed that theoretical modeling shows is enhanced by Doppler averaging. Polarization spectroscopy provides a simple modulation–free signal suitable for laser frequency stabilization to excited state transitions

Digital Assets & License Protections in an Age that Denies Class Actions and Mandates Arbitration

The battle of star system B-R5RB is probably a conflict and place that you have never heard of, even though an estimated £300,000 worth of property damage and loss occurred due to an interstellar battle on July 27, 2014. Hundreds of competing rival ships were destroyed, with over 7,600 individuals taking part in one of the single largest property disputes of the 21st century. The conflict lasted approximately 21 hours and had ripple effects across an entire galaxy. If this sounds like fiction, I assure you, it is not. You have likely never heard of star system B-R5RB or the interstellar battle that happened there because it is not a physical place, insofar as computer servers do not count as a physical places..

Development of a Multichannel Wideband Radar Demonstrator

With the rise of software defined radios (SDR) and the trend towards integrating more RF components into MMICs the cost and complexity of multichannel radar develop- ment has gone down. High-speed RF data converters have seen continuous increases in both sampling rate and resolution, further rendering a growing subset of components in an RF chain unnecessary. A recent development in this trend is the Xilinx RF- SoC, which integrates multiple high speed data converters into the same package as an FPGA. The Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) is regularly upgrading its suite of sensor platforms spanning from HF depth sounders to Ka band altimeters. A radar platform was developed around the RFSoC to demonstrate the capabilities of the chip when acting as a digital backend and evaluate its role in future radar designs at CReSIS. A new ultra-wideband (UWB) FMCW RF frontend was designed that con- sists of multiple transmit and receive modules with a 6 GHz bandwidth centered at 5 GHz. An antenna array was constructed out of Vivaldi elements to validate radar system performance. Firmware developed for the RFSoC enables radar features such as beam forming, frequency notching, dynamic stretch processing, and variable gain correction. The feature set presented here may prove useful in future sensor platforms used for the remote sensing of snow, soil moisture, or crop canopies

USE OF THE HLD EQUATION TO DETERMINE SURFACTANT ADSORPTION AT SOLID SURFACES

The objective of this work is to develop and refine a mathematical model based on the fundamentals of the hydrophilic-lipophilic deviation equation in order to describe and predict surfactant adsorption onto reservoir rocks in the presences of heavy petroleum oils

The Immediate Effects of Cervicothoracic Manipulation versus Stretching on Upper Trapezius Pressure Pain Thresholds and Range of Motion in Individuals without Neck Pain

Background and Purpose: Myofascial pain may be considered one of the most common clinical findings in patients with neck pain (NP). Motor aspects of myofascial pain include disturbed motor function and muscle weakness secondary to motor inhibition, muscle stiffness, and restricted range of motion (ROM). Currently, it is unclear which interventions may have the greatest immediate impact on pressure pain sensitivity and ROM. Several studies have demonstrated improved pressure pain thresholds (PPT) after cervical manipulation; however, it is not clear if manipulation targeted to the cervicothoracic (CT) junction will have a similar effect. Others recommend stretching as a method to reduce muscle soreness; however, the immediate effects of passive stretching to the upper trapezius on PPT and ROM have not been studied. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the influence of CT manipulation and passive stretching to the upper trapezius on PPT and ROM in individuals without recent complaint of NP. Subjects: Ninety (90) subjects without current complaint of NP were enrolled into the study. Methods: PPT was assessed on both the right and left upper trapezius musculature. Cervical range of motion (CROM) was assessed in the frontal, sagittal, and transverse planes. Subjects were randomized into one of three groups for intervention (CT manipulation, passive upper trapezius stretching, or control). CROM was reassessed immediately after the intervention. PPT levels were reassessed at 5 and 10 minutes post intervention by a blinded examiner. Mean and standard deviations for PPT and ROM were calculated. Repeated measures two-way ANOVA was used to assess within group (pre- and post- treatment) differences as well as difference among treatment conditions (Control, CT Manip, and Stretch groups). Post-hoc one-way ANOVA tests were used to examine the effects of group assignment/time points in the event of significant interactions between time and group assignment. Statistical significant was set at p \u3c0.05. Results: The two-way ANOVA test showed that there was a significant interaction between time and group assignment for CROM in the sagittal and transverse planes, however the post-hoc comparisons did not reveal a significant difference among 3 treatment group or among 3 time points. ANOVA also showed that there was not a difference in frontal plane CROM between time and group assignment. Similarly, although the two-way ANOVA test revealed a significant interaction between time and group assignment for PPT, post-hoc analyses showed that there was no difference between the 3 groups or among 3 time points for either side of the upper trapezius. Discussion: No significant difference in any plane of motion CROM or PPT pre-treatment to post-treatment between treatment groups brings into question the cause of the improved measures with time. Trends found with increased CROM and PPT over time are clouded by increased measures in the control group. The need for further research exists to better understand the relationship between CT manipulation and upper trapezius stretching and their effects on pain pressure thresholds and CROM. Conclusion: Upper trapezius stretching and CT manipulation may both be viable options for treatment by improving CROM and increasing PPT. Further high powered studies focusing on reducing the learning effects between measures and lowering participant uneasiness with research methods could produce clearer results

Ex vivo studies for the passive transdermal permeation and extent of metabolism of methyl and butyl paraben from a cream

Concerns regarding the safety of cumulative exposure to parabens have been raised as a consequence of their estrogenic and endocrine effects. These antibacterial agents are commonly used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Preliminary data from animal models has indicated potential links between paraben exposure and various conditions ranging from skin disorders to autism. Oral consumption of parabens is not a cause for concern because they are readily metabolised by the liver and excreted rapidly by the kidney. The presence of parabens in adipose tissue is thought to be due to dermal absorption of parabens where they are incompletely metabolised. Various studies have been performed on paraben absorption; however transdermal permeation of parabens from an emulsion has not been studied to date. In this preliminary study dermal permeation and metabolism across human skin were evaluated for methyl paraben (MP) and butyl paraben (BP) from an emulsion, using Franz Diffusion cell system with analysis by q-ToF (quadrupole time of flight) mass spectrometry. MP was observed to have lower permeation and lower extent of metabolism than BP

Evidence of stratification in binary colloidal films from microbeam X-ray scattering: Toward optimizing the evaporative assembly processes for coatings

Colloidal films have many important applications where a layered configuration is desirable, including flexible electronics, anti-reflective coatings, and anti-microbial paints. We report stratification during evaporative film formation in binary colloidal dispersion, probed using a novel microbeam small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique. To our knowledge, SAXS approaches have not been used to experimentally obtain quantitative data of concentration profiles in multicomponent colloidal films. We measured the local scattering of a film at different vertical locations using a microfocused X-ray beam and determined particle concentrations at different film depths using a linear combination analysis of the mixed film and pure film scattering data. Using small particle size ratios ranging from 2.55 to 1.25, we experimentally observed and quantify three distinct stratification configurations: inverted small on- top, large-on-top, and no stratification. Our results show some agreement with a previously proposed stratification state diagram, although there are some limitations. Experimental verification of these stratification phenomena is critical to fully understanding the physics of particle movement and structure development during film formation, which is crucial for optimizing evaporative assembly processes for coatings.Financial support for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation through award CBET-1335787 and a Department of Education Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) fellowship for A. J. C., Award P200A160163. This research used beamline 11-BM, CMS, of the National Synchrotron Light Source II, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Brookhaven National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-SC0012704

Maximizing the field of view and accuracy in 3D Single Molecule Localization Microscopy.

Super-resolution techniques that localize single molecules in three dimensions through point spread function (PSF) engineering are very sensitive to aberrations and optical alignment. Here we show how double-helix point spread function is affected by such mis-alignment and aberration. Specifically, we demonstrate through simulation and experiment how misplacement of phase masks in infinity corrected systems is a common source of significant loss of accuracy. We also describe an optimal alignment and calibration procedure to correct for these errors. In combination, these optimizations allow for a maximal field of view with high accuracy and precision. Though discussed with reference to double-helix point spread function (DHPSF), the optimization techniques are equally applicable to other engineered PSFs