Nd:YAG development for spaceborne laser ranging system

The results of the development of a unique modelocked laser device to be utilized in future NASA space-based, ultraprecision laser ranger systems are summarized. The engineering breadboard constructed proved the feasibility of the pump-pulsed, actively modelocked, PTM Q-switched Nd:YAG laser concept for the generation of subnanosecond pulses suitable for ultra-precision ranging. The laser breadboard also included a double-pass Nd:YAG amplifier and provision for a Type II KD*P frequency doubler. The specific technical accomplishment was the generation of single 150 psec, 20-mJ pulses at 10 pps at a wavelength of 1.064 micrometers with 25 dB suppression of pre-and post-pulses

Reservoir analysis of the compartmentalized Mississippian ages Spivey-Grabs field, south central Kansas

Master of ScienceGeologyMatthew W. TottenMississippian chert reservoirs, also known as chat reservoirs among the mid-continent in Kansas and northern Oklahoma, produce an abundant amount of hydrocarbons. Since the 1920s, chat reservoirs in Kansas have yielded over 380 million bbl of oil and 2.3 tcf of natural gas. The largest Mississippian field in south-central Kansas is the Spivey-Grabs, which spans Kingman and Harper Counties. Development of the Spivey-Grabs Mississippian reservoir, and continued production within the field, has been compromised by compartmentalization within the field, resulting in unpredictable producing rates. Previous research has investigated the differences of the fluids within the separate compartments (Evans, 2011; Kwasny, 2015), and identified the existence of at least two oil types of differing viscosity (Kwasny, 2015). The objective of this research was to determine whether the compartmentalization of the reservoir is controlled by the different lithologic characteristics between the various compartments. This was accomplished by examining drill cuttings under binocular microscope, under a petrographic microscope using digital imaging software, and under the high magnification of a scanning electron microscope. Calculated rock porosity from ImageJ software showed variation among the wells selected for this study; but the porosity variation does not correlate with differences in fluid viscosity that was previously observed, i.e. heavy and light viscosity oils (Kwasny, 2015). Heavy oils were seen in wells that had both higher and lower porosity values, and the same is true for the distribution of light oils. This suggested that fluid viscosity is the major controlling factor in compartmentalization in the Spivey-Grabs and not rock properties

An Overview of Enhancing Distance Learning Through Augmented and Virtual Reality Technologies

Although distance learning presents a number of interesting educational advantages as compared to in-person instruction, it is not without its downsides. We first assess the educational challenges presented by distance learning as a whole, and identify 4 main challenges that distance learning currently presents as compared to in-person instruction: the lack of social interaction, reduced student engagement and focus, reduced comprehension and information retention, and the lack of flexible and customizable instructor resources. After assessing each of these challenges in-depth, we examine how AR/VR technologies might serve to address each challenge along with their current shortcomings, and finally outline the further research that is required to fully understand the potential of AR/VR technologies as they apply to distance learning.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, submitted to TVC

Joint Annual Wellness Visit Scheduling

Problem/Impact Statement: The pharmacists in Scarborough & Westbrook Primary Care conduct Medicare Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs) with a physician. The pharmacist and physician see the patient individually. The practices achieved and sustained FY18 Joint AWV volume goals through a new process to reschedule physician-only AWVs to Joints AWVs with a pharmacist. This leads to reschedule rework and reduced time practice staff have for patient care

Emerging evidence of plant domestication as a landscape-level process

Current theories of plant domestication are based on localized founder models in which single or multiple domestications occur as a progressive result of adaptation processes, but anomalies that do not fit within this perspective have been accumulating. We describe developments in archaeology and genetics over the past decade in which cultural connections between groups stretch back much further in time than was previously realized, and over wide geographic distances. Weak selection for domestication substantially pre-dates domestication and/or cultivation practices, large populations appear to have been maintained throughout the emergence of domesticates, and the resulting forms were not necessarily an improvement in terms of yield. We present a framework in which the process of domestication evolved as a landscape-level process involving large populations connected through sustained long-term human contact over large distances from which domesticate forms emerged in a complex manner as an adaptive reaction to long-term exploitation that did not necessarily provide immediate benefits. The landscape framework addresses several anomalies and radically changes the dynamic visualization of the evolution of domestication. It also opens up a list of new questions regarding the mechanisms of selection and the assembly of domestication syndrome alleles, and obliges a profound rethink of the progressive nature of domestication and human cultural evolution. The evidence from ancient crops over the past decade challenges some of our most basic assumptions about the process of domestication. The emergence of crops has been viewed as a technologically progressive process in which single or multiple localized populations adapt to human environments in response to cultivation. By contrast, new genetic and archaeological evidence reveals a slow process that involved large populations over wide areas with unexpectedly sustained cultural connections in deep time. We review evidence that calls for a new landscape framework of crop origins. Evolutionary processes operate across vast distances of landscape and time, and the origins of domesticates are complex. The domestication bottleneck is a redundant concept and the progressive nature of domestication is in doubt

Correlations between zeros of a random polynomial

We obtain exact analytical expressions for correlations between real zeros of the Kac random polynomial. We show that the zeros in the interval $(-1,1)$ are asymptotically independent of the zeros outside of this interval, and that the straightened zeros have the same limit translation invariant correlations. Then we calculate the correlations between the straightened zeros of the SO(2) random polynomial.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figures; a revised version of the J. Stat. Phys. pape

Adolescents' Pregnancy Intentions, Wantedness, and Regret: Cross‐Lagged Relations With Mental Health and Harsh Parenting

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90210/1/j.1741-3737.2011.00885.x.pd

Future Lyme disease risk in the southeastern United States based on projected land cover

Lyme disease is the most significant vector-borne disease in the United States, and its southward advance over several decades has been quantified. Previous research has examined the potential role of climate change on the disease’s expansion, but no studies have considered the role of future land cover upon its distribution. This research examines Lyme disease risk in the south-eastern U.S. based on projected land cover developed under four Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Scenarios: A1B, A2, B1, and B2. Land cover types and edge indices significantly associated with Lyme disease in Virginia were incorporated into a spatial Poisson regression model to quantify potential land cover suitability for Lyme disease in the south-eastern U.S. under each scenario. Our results indicate an intensification of potential land cover suitability for Lyme disease under the A scenarios and a decrease of potential land cover suitability under the B scenarios. The decrease under the B scenarios is a critical result, indicating that Lyme disease risk can be decreased by making different land cover choices. Additionally, health officials can focus efforts in projected high incidence areas

The Role of the E2F Transcription Factor Family in UV-Induced Apoptosis

The E2F transcription factor family is traditionally associated with cell cycle control. However, recent data has shown that activating E2Fs (E2F1-3a) are potent activators of apoptosis. In contrast, the recently cloned inhibitory E2Fs (E2F7 and 8) appear to antagonize E2F-induced cell death. In this review we will discuss (i) the potential role of E2Fs in UV-induced cell death and (ii) the implications of this to the development of UV-induced cutaneous malignancies

A study of the NO x dependence of isoprene oxidation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94677/1/jgrd10896.pd