Investigation of microgravity effects on solidification phenomena of selected materials

A Get Away Special (GAS) experiment payload to investigate microgravity effects on solidification phenomena of selected experimental samples has been designed for flight. It is intended that the first flight of the assembly will (1) study the p-n junction characteristics for advancing semiconductor device applications, (2) study the effects of gravity-driven convection on the growth of HgCd crystals, (3) compare the textures of the sample which crystallizes in microgravity with those found in chondrite meteorites, and (4) modify glass optical characteristics through divalent oxygen exchange. The space flight experiment consists of many small furnaces. While the experiment payload is in the low gravity environment of orbital flight, the payload controller will sequentially activate the furnaces to heat samples to their melt state and then allow cooling to resolidification in a controlled fashion. The materials processed in the microgravity environment of space will be compared to the same materials processed on earth in a one-gravity environment. This paper discusses the design of all subassemblies (furnance, electronics, and power systems) in the experiment. A complete description of the experimental materials is also presented

Antibiotic Resistance: Use of Delayed Prescriptions for Viral Syndromes in Urgent Care

Purpose: Widespread use of antibiotics leads to a development of antimicrobial resistance, an increasing global problem. The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains represents a serious threat to the public. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates at least two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths are caused by antibiotic resistant bacteriain the United States (CDC, 2014). The strategy of delayed antibiotic prescribing, sometimes called “wait and see” prescriptions, may reduce antibiotic use for viral syndromes in primary care settings. The overall purpose of this scholarly project is to explore delayed prescriptions used by providers in two urgent care settings, with a potential to reduce the amount of antibiotics consumed by patients for viral syndromes. These diagnoses include influenza, upper respiratory infection (URI), pharyngitis, sinusitis, acute bronchitis, acute otitis media (AOM). Significance of the Project: There have been numerous studies in the past addressing the importance of reducing antibiotic use. The need to slow the emergence of resistant bacteria by judicious use of antibiotics in healthcare and agricultural settings will require the cooperation and engagement of healthcare providers, healthcare leaders, pharmaceutical companies, and patients. Providers are well aware of the dangers of prescribingantibiotics for viral syndromes and have strict requirements as to which patients they will issue delayed prescriptions. According to the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), antibiotics are given to patients with acute bronchitis 65% to 80% of the time, acute pharyngitis visits receive antibiotics 60% of the time, and acute sinusitis receives antibiotics 80% of the time out of 4 million annual outpatient visits (Radecky, 2014). Using antibiotics for conditions that have only a marginal, self-limiting or no clinical effect has been labelled unnecessary or inappropriate antibiotic use or antibiotic overuse or misuse (Hoye, Gjelstad, & Lindbaek, 2013). Factors contributing to overuse of antibiotics could include patient demand, lack of information on viruses and antibiotics, perceived ideas of duration of illness, uncertainty of diagnosis and inability to spend time with patients due to volume. According the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine (JUCM), 52.9% of visits to urgent care centers in 2014 were for viral syndromes, otitis media, URI, coughs, and 1.6% influenza visits (JUCM, 2015). There is evidence that the majority of patients believe that antibiotics are an appropriate treatment for these diagnoses. Methods: Urgent care centers have been around for about a decade and considered new models of healthcare in the niche between primary care offices and emergency departments. Urgent care centers have extended hours and envisioned as functioning as low-acuity emergency departments with extended services such as Radiology, and Lab testing. They mainly have emergency board certified physicians, but some may have primary care providers on duty. Generally urgent care centers are open selected hours seven days a week. This project was conducted in two urgent care centers in two different counties, with a combined patient volume of 16,000 yearly. The urgent care centers used in this project are affiliated with a major hospital system in central New Jersey. The providers currently work at both urgent care centers on a rotational basis, as well as the emergency department of the main hospital. The physicians were asked to participate and welcomed the project. With the diagnosis of viral syndrome, the provider would recommend a delayed prescription for an antibiotic. At discharge, the nurse would explain the dangers of antibiotic resistance using patient handouts from the CDC’s “Get Smart about Antibiotics” (CDC, 2014). The patient wasasked to wait four days and if the symptoms were not better, they would be able to begin their antibiotic instead of returning for another visit. A phone survey was conducted on day five -post visit to determine if the patient filled or did not fill the prescription. Project Outcomes: Through patient education and the use of handouts, this project proved that educating patients at time of discharge could increase the likelihood of the patient’s decision not to fill their delayed prescription. Of sixty-eight patients surveyed by phone, thirty-four did not fill their antibiotic prescriptions and thirty-four patients did fill their antibiotics within the five-day range. There was a significant difference in who filled their prescriptions and who did not, by whether the provider or the nurse handed out the education packet to the patient. The nurse given the education packet had a better response to patients not filling their antibiotic. Though the cumulative percentage of patients who did not fill their prescriptions was slightly greater than 50%, the outcome has the potential to decrease the amount of antibiotics the public consumes with delayed prescriptions and education at discharge. Clinical Significance: The practice of overprescribing of antibiotics has contributed to an increase in resistance and treatment failures for bacterial illnesses. Patient satisfaction has become a large part of the healthcare system and was taken into consideration in this project. Patients are requesting antibiotics for diagnosed viral infections due to theirlack of education, the proper use for antibiotics, and dangers from misuse such as allergic reactions, abdominal pain and most common, diarrhea and vomiting. Healthcare providers can help lower the prescription rates of antibiotics with educational information as well as using delayed prescriptions. Increasing knowledge about antibiotic misuse can be statistically significant in demonstrating that adding education can decrease the use of antibiotics when not needed. Time with the patient at discharge and patient education proved to be significant therefore beneficial to not filling the delayed antibiotic prescription

Antibiotic Resistance: Use of Delayed Prescriptions for Viral Syndromes in Urgent Care

Purpose: Widespread use of antibiotics leads to a development of antimicrobial resistance, an increasing global problem. The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains represents a serious threat to the public. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates at least two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths are caused by antibiotic resistant bacteriain the United States (CDC, 2014). The strategy of delayed antibiotic prescribing, sometimes called “wait and see” prescriptions, may reduce antibiotic use for viral syndromes in primary care settings. The overall purpose of this scholarly project is to explore delayed prescriptions used by providers in two urgent care settings, with a potential to reduce the amount of antibiotics consumed by patients for viral syndromes. These diagnoses include influenza, upper respiratory infection (URI), pharyngitis, sinusitis, acute bronchitis, acute otitis media (AOM). Significance of the Project: There have been numerous studies in the past addressing the importance of reducing antibiotic use. The need to slow the emergence of resistant bacteria by judicious use of antibiotics in healthcare and agricultural settings will require the cooperation and engagement of healthcare providers, healthcare leaders, pharmaceutical companies, and patients. Providers are well aware of the dangers of prescribingantibiotics for viral syndromes and have strict requirements as to which patients they will issue delayed prescriptions. According to the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), antibiotics are given to patients with acute bronchitis 65% to 80% of the time, acute pharyngitis visits receive antibiotics 60% of the time, and acute sinusitis receives antibiotics 80% of the time out of 4 million annual outpatient visits (Radecky, 2014). Using antibiotics for conditions that have only a marginal, self-limiting or no clinical effect has been labelled unnecessary or inappropriate antibiotic use or antibiotic overuse or misuse (Hoye, Gjelstad, & Lindbaek, 2013). Factors contributing to overuse of antibiotics could include patient demand, lack of information on viruses and antibiotics, perceived ideas of duration of illness, uncertainty of diagnosis and inability to spend time with patients due to volume. According the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine (JUCM), 52.9% of visits to urgent care centers in 2014 were for viral syndromes, otitis media, URI, coughs, and 1.6% influenza visits (JUCM, 2015). There is evidence that the majority of patients believe that antibiotics are an appropriate treatment for these diagnoses. Methods: Urgent care centers have been around for about a decade and considered new models of healthcare in the niche between primary care offices and emergency departments. Urgent care centers have extended hours and envisioned as functioning as low-acuity emergency departments with extended services such as Radiology, and Lab testing. They mainly have emergency board certified physicians, but some may have primary care providers on duty. Generally urgent care centers are open selected hours seven days a week. This project was conducted in two urgent care centers in two different counties, with a combined patient volume of 16,000 yearly. The urgent care centers used in this project are affiliated with a major hospital system in central New Jersey. The providers currently work at both urgent care centers on a rotational basis, as well as the emergency department of the main hospital. The physicians were asked to participate and welcomed the project. With the diagnosis of viral syndrome, the provider would recommend a delayed prescription for an antibiotic. At discharge, the nurse would explain the dangers of antibiotic resistance using patient handouts from the CDC’s “Get Smart about Antibiotics” (CDC, 2014). The patient wasasked to wait four days and if the symptoms were not better, they would be able to begin their antibiotic instead of returning for another visit. A phone survey was conducted on day five -post visit to determine if the patient filled or did not fill the prescription. Project Outcomes: Through patient education and the use of handouts, this project proved that educating patients at time of discharge could increase the likelihood of the patient’s decision not to fill their delayed prescription. Of sixty-eight patients surveyed by phone, thirty-four did not fill their antibiotic prescriptions and thirty-four patients did fill their antibiotics within the five-day range. There was a significant difference in who filled their prescriptions and who did not, by whether the provider or the nurse handed out the education packet to the patient. The nurse given the education packet had a better response to patients not filling their antibiotic. Though the cumulative percentage of patients who did not fill their prescriptions was slightly greater than 50%, the outcome has the potential to decrease the amount of antibiotics the public consumes with delayed prescriptions and education at discharge. Clinical Significance: The practice of overprescribing of antibiotics has contributed to an increase in resistance and treatment failures for bacterial illnesses. Patient satisfaction has become a large part of the healthcare system and was taken into consideration in this project. Patients are requesting antibiotics for diagnosed viral infections due to theirlack of education, the proper use for antibiotics, and dangers from misuse such as allergic reactions, abdominal pain and most common, diarrhea and vomiting. Healthcare providers can help lower the prescription rates of antibiotics with educational information as well as using delayed prescriptions. Increasing knowledge about antibiotic misuse can be statistically significant in demonstrating that adding education can decrease the use of antibiotics when not needed. Time with the patient at discharge and patient education proved to be significant therefore beneficial to not filling the delayed antibiotic prescription

Taking Back the Knife: The Ulu as an Expression of Inuit Women's Strength

Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2009The ulu is an enduring object in the lives of Inuit women which has multiple meanings as both a tool and symbol of traditional subsistence activity. While it continues to be recognized as a symbol of identity for Inuit women across the Arctic, it has received little attention by Western scientists and academics. Following the twists and turns of both de-colonizing and engendering the ulu encourages a comprehension of the profoundly symbolic meaning of the ulu with respect to Inuit women's identity. The collecting phase of the Smithsonian in Alaska and the classifying impulse of archaeological reports are examined for their underlying rules of practice, conventions of representation and dynamics of scientific authority. Then in reaction to this 'objectification' of the ulu, the knife is taken back in a multitude of actions and expressions which seek to reclaim the ulu and restore its significance as a cultural itemIntroduction -- Strong women -- Speaking out -- A real Alaskan? -- Approach -- Foucault adding to the archives -- (Re)appropriation -- Collecting -- Thoughts in things -- Early Arctic ethnography -- Woman, the civilizer -- Classifying -- Man, the hunter -- Origins and distribution -- Typology -- Function -- Replicative analysis -- Taking back the knife: expressions of strength -- Healing ceremony -- Barrow -- Pilgrim Hot Springs -- Nushagak Bay -- Kuskokwim River -- Washington, D.C. - Kodiak - Homer -- Cutting a path to the future - logos -- Symbols of strength -- Sewing it all together -- Conclusion -- Literature cited

The Effect of Perceptual Set on Listener Judgments of Voice Quality Deviations

The purpose of this study was to test the possible influence of perceptual set on listeners\u27 judgments of voice quality deviations. Perceptual set was created by instructions given to an experimental group which limited their choices, thus encouraging a particular response. The effect of set on the overall performance of the group, on backward versus forward voice samples and on the level of experience of the listener were all investigated. The sample for this study was comprised of 24 students of speech pathology and audiology. The subjects were divided into matched experimental and control groups and asked to listen to a prepared tape containing 27 voice samples presented forward and 27 voice samples presented backward. The experimental group was given instructions to judge the voice samples simply for the presence of or the absence of nasality. The control group was asked to judge the samples for a variety of voice quality disorders. The scores from each group were computed and a statistical analysis was used to determine what effect perceptual set had on the experimental group. The results of this study indicate that perceptual set does not play a significant role in influencing listener judgments of voice quality disorders, at least in inexperienced listeners. Further, perceptual set is not a factor in backward versus forward performance in inexperienced listeners, nor does it influence the listeners at one level more than those at another level for any of the three levels of experience of the group tested. The results of this study indicate that perceptual set created by specific instructions does not influence the evaluation of voice quality disorders at least by inexperienced listeners. Speech pathologists who deal with the evaluation and treatment of voice quality disorders on a wide scale should be aware that this possibility exists, however, and take steps to avoid it in their personal experience

Characterization of a graphite epoxy optical bench during thermal vacuum cycling

In-situ monitoring of the Wide-Field/Planetary Camera, a Hubble Space Telescope science instrument, was performed in a vacuum environment to better understand the formation of ice on cooled optical detectors. Several diagnostic instruments were mounted on an access plate to view the interior of the instrument housing and the graphite epoxy optical bench. The instrumentation chosen and the rationale for choosing the instrumentation are discussed. In addition, the performance of the instrumentation during monitoring operations is discussed

Naticid Gastropod Prey Selectivity Through Time and the Hypothesis of Escalation

The hypothesis of escalation posits that biologic hazards such as predation have increased during the Phanerozoic. Previously, a survey of drilling frequencies in the Cretaceous and Paleogene of the North American Coastal Plain suggested an episodic pattern of escalation within the naticid gastropod predator-prey system. This study examines escalation from the perspective of naticid prey selectivity. If escalation occurred within the system, less selectivity of prey may be apparent in the Paleogene compared to younger assemblages. We test this hypothesis for four Eocene Coastal Plain assemblages. Contrary to predictions, intraspecific prey size selectivity was well developed for nine of eleven bivalve prey species. Drillhole size (indicating predator size) correlated significantly with prey size, especially for successful drillholes. Few incomplete or nonfunctional drillholes occurred, except within corbulid species. Interspecific prey selectivity was less developed than for Neogene or Recent assemblages. Naticid prey preferences predicted by cost-benefit analysis were consistent with actual drilling frequencies only for the Bashi Marl Member of the Hatchetigbee Formation (Alabama). In the Piney Point Formation of Virginia, all prey items were drilled at equivalent frequencies, despite their different cost-benefit rankings. Upper Lisbon (Alabama) and Moodys Branch (Mississippi and Louisiana) assemblages showed limited agreement with preferences predicted by cost-benefit analysis. Prey selectivity thus appears less developed in the Paleogene compared to the Neogene and Recent, in accordance with the hypothesis of escalation

Evolution of the Naticid Gastropod Predator-Prey System: An Evaluation of the Hypothesis of Escalation

Previous work has suggested that escalation may have characterized the history of the naticid gastropod predator-prey system, based on apparent increases in drilling frequencies and the occurrence of antipredatory aptations among prey. We evaluate this hypothesis based on a comprehensive survey (over 40,000 specimens) of predation on molluscs from the Upper Cretaceous through lower Oligocene formations within the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain. Patterns in drilling of both bivalve and gastropod prey are complex. Drilling frequencies were relatively low in the Cretaceous but increased sharply above the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, remaining high until the late Eocene. Following a significant decline near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, drilling frequencies increased to a moderate level in the Oligocene. Contrary to our prediction based on the hypothesis of escalation, no temporal trend of increasing stereotypy of drillhole site occurred. However, significant increases in prey effectiveness (indicated by the incidence of incomplete drillholes and multiply bored shells) occurred between the Cretaceous and Oligocene. This pattern characterizes entire faunas as well as individual prey taxa that were consistently heavily drilled (turritellid gastropods and corbulid bivalves)

Spatial Variation of Naticid Gastropod Predation in the Eocene of North-America

Although, the fossil record of naticid gastropod drilling has played an important role in the controversy over predator-prey evolution, little is known about variation of drilling frequencies within single horizons or how predation patterns are influenced by environmental variables. Without an understanding of spatial variation in drilling, temporal patterns in drilling are difficult to interpret. We surveyed 27,554 specimens of molluscs from the Cook Mountain interval (upper middle Eocene) and Jackson Group (late Eocene) of the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain to document spatial variation in naticid drilling frequencies. The Jackson Group assemblages from the Moodys Branch and Yazoo formations were sampled along a depth gradient in order to compare drilling frequencies to environmental variables within a single climatic zone. There was a statistically significant difference between drilling frequency of the inner to middle shelf Moodys Branch Formation (mean = 8.3%) and the outer shelf Yazoo Formation (mean = 21.2%; chi square = 49.58, P ≪ 0.001), but there was no significant bathymetric trend in drilling frequencies among the five assemblages of the Moodys Branch. Drilling frequency was not related to substrate type within the Moodys Branch. Drilling, however, was correlated with species diversity of Moodys Branch assemblages (r = 0.50, P \u3c 0.01). Drilling frequency was significantly correlated with the percentage of naticids in each assemblage (r = 0.77, P \u3c 0.001) and the percentage of certain prey species of the bivalve families Lucinidae and Corbulidae, and the gastropod families Turritellidae and Hipponicidae (r = 0.80, P \u3c 0.001). These preferred species represented 40% of the naticid victims, but only 16% of the assemblages. Cook Mountain assemblages represented marine inner to middle shelf environments from Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. Naticid drilling frequencies of the entire molluscan fauna ranged from 6.8-38.7% with a mean of 22%. In the Cook Mountain, three preferred species (of the families Turritellidae, Lucinidae, and Noetiidae), representing 24% of the total individuals, accounted for 44% of the drilled individuals. As in the Moodys Branch Formation, Cook Mountain assemblages showed a significant correlation between relative abundance of preferred species and drilling frequency of samples (r = 0.585, P \u3c 0.05). The dependence of naticid drilling on the availability of preferred prey species indicates a possible behavioral inflexibility in naticid predation patterns. The Virginia Cook Mountain fauna exhibited significantly greater drilling frequencies (mean = 30.3%, n = 4 samples) than did the Gulf Coast assemblages (mean = 18.0%, n = 11 samples; Mann-Whitney U-test, P \u3c 0.01). This result is consistent with a trend found by some previous workers of an equatorward decrease in naticid drilling