Suchergebnisse

Social disparities tied to social group membership(s) are prevalent and persistent within mainstream institutions (e.g., schools/workplaces). Accordingly, psychological science has harnessed selves - which are malleable and meaningfully shaped by social group membership(s) - as solutions to inequality. We propose and review evidence that theoretical and applied impacts of leveraging 'selves as solutions' can be furthered through the use of a stigma and strengths framework. Specifically, this framework conceptualizes selves in their fuller complexity, allowing the same social group membership to be associated with stigma, risk, and devaluation as well as strengths, resilience, and pride. We provide evidence that by enacting policies and practices that (a) reduce/minimize stigma and (b) recognize/include strengths, mainstream institutions can more fully mitigate social disparities tied to inclusion, achievement and well-being. Using social groups that vary in status/power we examine implications of this framework including the potential to foster positive, recursive, and intergroup impacts on social inequalities.

Radioisotope generators can provide power for several decades without the need of any further energy input, such as solar or chemical energy. A portable radioisotope generator can foresee many applications in future military and civilian uses that require minimum access and maintenance, such as to power sensors in a polar region, on a floating buoy, or undersea. In this work, we report the design, simulation, and measurement results of the thermal insulation of a miniaturized radioisotope system. We tested a prototype powered by an electrical heater with the same size as a plutonium fuel pellet. We tested the material compatibilities and showed the designs suitable for generators using thermoelectric and thermophotovoltaic converters respectively. In addition, we proposed a new insulation that uses a layered dielectric's omni-directional reflectivity as a futuristic insulation mechanism to shield radiation heat for micro to meso-scale thermal systems. ; Army Research Office through the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (Contracts W911NF-07-D0004, MAST 892730 and S3TEC DE-SC0001299)