Glass formation and dormancy in bacterial spores

Summary Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques were used to obtain evidence whether a glassy state exists within fully hydrated dormant Bacillus subtilis spores. DSC thermograms of hydrated dormant spores contained two major transitions; one at ∼60 °C assigned to be associated with the initial 'activation' stage for germination, and the other at ∼120 °C assigned to be associated with the 'inactivation' process (i.e. killing of the spores). The peak at ∼60 °C had characteristics which were all consistent with at least some region of the compartmentalised structure of fully hydrated dormant spores being in a glassy state. Solid (CPMAS) and liquid state (SPMAS) mobility resolved ¹³C NMR spectroscopy studies on the calcium dipicolinic acid (CaDPA) resonances, which are only present in the central protoplast of bacterial spores, showed it to be present in an amorphous solid-like environment. The DSC and NMR results were both found to be consistent with the hypothesis that the dormancy of bacterial spores is due to at least the central protoplast region being maintained in a low moisture content glassy state.     

Nanocrystalline diamond coating of fusion plasma facing components

Nanocrystalline diamond layers were deposited by hot-filament CVD on several substrates including molybdenum tiles and foils, graphite blocks and silicon wafers. The structural characterisation of the deposited layers, achieved by SEM, AFM, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies, showed the typical features of nanocrystalline diamond.A nanocrystalline diamond coated molybdenum tile was exposed to a fusion grade deuterium plasma in the MAST tokamak, with a plasma current of 700 kA, core electron temperature of about 0.6 keV, and total exposure time of about 1 s. The diamond coating showed good resistance to the extremely harsh conditions of the fusion plasma edge.     

Administrative crisis consultation after 9/11: A university's systems response.

This case study involves application of program-centered and consultee-centered administrative consultation as an emergency mental health intervention to enhance the response of an eastern seaboard university to the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. The university had provisions for many forms of emergency in its action plan, but not for the provision of psychological first aid in response to wide spread trauma. Key components of the administrative consultation were the need to rapidly scan the organization, to engage key personnel as consultees, and to support the creation of an effective action plan. Major problems encountered in the consultation included resistance through psychological reactance, and managing differences in expectation and coping needs between students, faculty, and administrators. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Crossover of workplace aggression experiences in dual-earner couples.

This study investigates whether workplace aggression experienced by one or both members of a couple accounts for increases in the psychological distress of the victim's partner. Viewing the work-family interface and stress-strain processes as dyadic, and open to interindividual and interdomain contagion, analyses were conducted on matched data from a large-scale population health survey containing information on both working adults from 2,904 couples. Multilevel analysis of bidirectional crossover, while controlling for common stressors, supports the proposition of a crossover of stress resulting from workplace aggression. This finding highlights the complexities of work-family dynamics and of the deep penetration of workplace aggression into the lives of dual-earner partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Network planning with random demand

We study a planning problem associated with networks for private line services. In these networks, demands are known to exhibit considerable variability, and as such, they should be treated as random variables. The proposed planning model is a two-stage stochastic linear program (SLP) with recourse. Due to the enormous size of the deterministic equivalent, we choose a sampling based algorithm calledstochastic decomposition (SD). For very large-scale SLPs, such as the ones solved in this application, SD provides an effective methodology. The model presented in this paper is validated by using a detailed simulation of the network. We report results with a network that has 86 demand pairs, 89 links and 706 potential routes.This work was supported in part by Grant No. NSF-DDM-9114352 from the National Science Foundation.     

Ideas to Minimize Exam Anxiety

The debilitation score from the Alpert‐Haber Anxiety Achievement Test was used to identify students suffering from exam anxiety. Principal component Analysis was then used to show that the debilitation score was strongly related to short‐term and long‐term anxiety and self‐image and not, as expected, to study skills, problem‐solving skills, or avoidance to engage in solving difficult problems. Required workshops to help students address low self‐image and high short‐term and long‐term anxiety were introduced, but they had modest short‐term success. However, significant improvement in student performance occurred when faculty included measures of student performance other than the final exam (such as term work, projects, and self‐assessment) and when students contracted for the weighting that the final exam would contribute to their final grade. The use of self‐assessment was effective for all students regardless of their level of exam anxiety.     

Preparing and writing a failure analysis report

Afailure analysis report is the summation of all of the tests and analyses performed during the course of an investigation. The report coalesces the results and presents them in a concise and logical format that describes the particulars of the subject being studied, conveys pertinent information gathered from testing and analysis, and logically and accurately interprets and explains the data and results.     

The effects of NO passivation on the radiation response of SiO2/4H-SiC MOS capacitors

The radiation response of SiO₂ gate oxides grown on 4H-SiC to NO passivation is presented for the first time. The effects of gamma radiation on Q_eff are similar for n-4H-SiC MOS capacitors both with and without NO passivation, but are different in sign (negative) compared to SiO₂ on Si. The variation in D_it with total dose, however, is different for the passivated versus the unpassivated samples. Comparisons between Si SOI and 4H-SiC suggest that properly passivated SiC MOSFETs should have good radiation tolerance.