Comparing with other dielectric waveguides, NRD (nonradiative dielectric guides) presents advantages of ease of fabrication, low transmission loss, and absence of radiation from bends and discontinuities, making it suitable for realizing compact and high-performance millimeter wave integrated circuits. First, we study the EM theory of NRD to observe the characteristic affected by NRD geometric parameters and introduce multi-mode parameters to analyze mode coupling phenomena in bend and two-layer NRD structures. In order to promote NRD circuit application and transmission performance, we also study an integrated transition between microstrip line and NRD and mode suppressing technique. Finally, the structures mentioned above are all integrated in circuit application.

Background: The opioid epidemic in the United States has been on the rise. Acute exacerbations of chronic pancreatitis (AECP) patients are at higher risk for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Evidence on OUD's impact on healthcare utilization, especially hospital re-admissions is scarce. We measured the impact of OUD on 30-day readmissions, in patients admitted with AECP from 2010 to 2014. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study which included patients with concurrently documented CP and acute pancreatitis as first two diagnoses, from the National Readmissions Database (NRD). Pancreatic cancer patients and those who left against medical advice were excluded. We compared the 30-day readmission risk between OUD-vs.-non-OUD, while adjusting for other confounders, using multivariable exact-matched [(EM); 18 confounders; n = 28,389] and non-EM regression/time-to-event analyses. Results: 189,585 patients were identified. 6589 (3.5%) had OUD. Mean age was 48.7 years and 57.5% were men. Length-of-stay (4.4 vs 3.9 days) and mean index hospitalization costs ($10,251 vs. $9174) were significantly higher in OUD-compared to non-OUD-patients (p < 0.001). The overall mean 30-day readmission rate was 27.3% (n = 51,806; 35.3% in OUD vs. 27.0% in non-OUD; p < 0.001). OUD patients were 25% more likely to be re-admitted during a 30-day period (EM-HR: 1.25; 95%CI: 1.16–1.36; p < 0.001), Majority of readmissions were pancreas-related (60%), especially AP. OUD cases’ aggregate readmissions costs were $23.3 ± 1.5 million USD (n = 2289). Conclusion: OUD contributes significantly to increased readmission risk in patients with AECP, with significant downstream healthcare costs. Measures against OUD in these patients, such as alternative pain-control therapies, may potentially alleviate such increase in health-care resource utilization.

This dissertation presents the rectifying antennas potential for harvesting solar power, along with a novel design for a solar rectenna. The suns general features and the characteristics of solar radiation as an electromagnetic wave are treated in depth in order to determine the deficiencies of traditional rectennas as a solar cell. A closed form equation for a MIM rectifiers efficiency as a function of its input power was developed and verified by a simulated behavioral model and measurements. A unique calculation method was also developed to determine the available solar power at the terminal of a [lambda]/2 dipole antenna as a function of its bandwidth. The available power for each diode at the antennas terminal was found to be insufficient for a MIM diode to operate in its high efficiency region. It was concluded that the MIM diode requires an array of high gain antennas to increase the solar power captured at its input in order to operate in its high efficiency region. A dielectric rod antenna is proposed as the high gain antenna element for the solar antenna. In order to minimize losses due to the skin effect in the feed system of the array, a non-radiative dielectric (NRD) wave guide is proposed as the feed structure for the solar array antenna. To increase the rectification efficiency of the solar rectenna, two improvements were introduced: 1) the solar antenna was modified to function as a dual polarized antenna; and 2) a novel technique was used to achieve full-wave rectification. Test results of prototypes of the proposed solar antennas and arrays, show them to be potentially far superior to traditional [lambda]/2 dipole antennas for collecting solar radiation. The interconnection method for rectennas in an array – as well as their associated dc losses – were also investigated. Based on the theoretical results, a novel interconnection method is proposed here, which has the potential to minimize the dc losses in the grid. A series of experiments were conducted to verify the proposed concepts, which yielded promising results.

Harmful substances containing acid or neutral rock drainages (ARD and NRD) are a major challenge related to the management of extractive industry wastes. This issue is particularly related to deposits containing sulphide minerals, which are prone to oxidization under the influence of atmospheric oxygen and water. The drainage quality depends mainly on the mineralogical and chemical composition of the extractive wastes, and especially on the ratio of acid-producing and neutralizing minerals, combined with reactions catalysed by microbes. Since harmful drainages play a major role in the generation of environmental issues for extractive industry, the accurate prediction of the drainage quality is of utmost importance. To design appropriate extractive waste facilities and drainage management, the characterisation of extractive wastes and assessment of the behaviour of the waste material is essential already before the actual mining activities start. Several methods have been developed to characterize extractive waste materials and to predict their short and long term behaviour, including e.g. geochemical laboratory tests, static tests and longer term kinetic tests, and geochemical modelling. The characterisation methods for assessing the ARD risk can be divided into static and kinetic tests. Static tests are short term laboratory analyses, usually used for preliminary investigation and screening. Kinetic tests are longer term tests, revealing information on the time scale of drainage events. Commonly used static tests for ARD prediction include acid–base accounting (ABA) tests and the net acid generation (NAG) test. Since acid and neutralisation potential largely depend on the ratio and quality of acid-producing and neutralizing minerals, mineralogical calculations could also be used for ARD prediction. The mobility of potentially harmful substances from extractive waste can be preliminary assessed using different geochemical laboratory tests, including selective extraction and leaching methods. The most commonly used selective extraction method in Finland is the aqua regia (AR) extraction. In addition to some silicates and secondary precipitate minerals, it is intended to dissolve elements bound especially to sulphide phases. A less commonly used method for element mobility prediction is the analysis of the single addition NAG test leachate. In this study, several Finnish waste rock sites were investigated and the performances of different preliminary drainage quality test methods evaluated and compared. The assessed acid production potential methods included the ABA test as presented in the standard EN 15875, the single addition NAG test as presented in the AMIRA guidebook, and a SEM mineralogy-based calculation. The assessed methods for element mobility prediction included the single addition NAG test leachate analysis and the AR extraction. According to the results, pyrrhotite seems to be the main mineral contributing to acid production, and the silicate minerals the main contributors to the neutralisation potential at the most Finnish waste rock sites. Since silicate minerals appear to have a significant role in ARD prevention, the behaviour of these minerals in mining environment should be more thoroughly investigated. In the investigated Finnish waste rocks, Co, Cr, Cu and Ni often occurred as elevated concentrations, and the most widely abundant harmful elements in the waste rock drainages were Co, Cu, Ni and Zn. The results suggest that an acid production prediction based on SEM mineralogical calculation is at least as accurate as the commonly used static laboratory methods. The AR extraction indicates well which elements might occur as elevated concentrations in the drainage. Also the NAG test leachate analysis performed well in element mobility assessment, but only when the NAG test leachate was sufficiently acidic, the leachate pH being below of 3-6, depending on the element of interest.

<p>Using an array synthesis tool based on a modified differential evolution algorithm, it is shown that the position-phase synthesis exhibits improved pattern characteristics compared to both the phase only and position only synthesis of uniform amplitude antenna arrays. The design of an unequally spaced planar reflect-array and an active power combining reflect-array are presented. The unit cell of the active reflect-array consists of an amplifying active reflect-antenna designed using a novel dual polarized microstrip-T coupled patch antenna. Two modelling approaches are proposed for the active reflect-antenna and the modelling methods are compared with the experiments.</p><p>A computationally efficient analysis of an H-slot in the ground plane of a microstripline is carried out using a transmission line model. To improve the accuracy in the resonant region of the H-slot and retaining the computational efficiency, an artificial neural network is combined with an efficient spectral domain method. An efficient analysis tool for a silicon micromachined H-slot coupled antenna is developed by combining the transmission line models of the H-slot and an aperture coupled antenna. The experimental results are compared with the theory showing good agreement.</p><p>The analysis and design of a microwave amplifier based on non-resonant slot matching is carried out. It is seen that the designed slot matched amplifier has decreased layout size, improved gain and noise figure characteristics compared to a stub matched amplifier. An efficient method for the analysis of non-resonant slots is compared with other approaches showing good agreement. This points to the fact that non-resonant slot matched circuits can be designed with the same speed and efficiency as we design the traditional stub based matching circuits.</p><p>To address the problem of bandwidth and performance of reflect-arrays we propose a dielectric resonator antenna with slotline stubs. As a preliminary step we design a dielectric resonator antenna with slotline feed and the experimental results are compared with those of a commercial CAD tool. Design and analysis of 3D interconnects based on non-radiative dielectric waveguides is carried out. At millimeterwave, these interconnects are useful for hybrid and multilayer integration techniques.</p>

Using an array synthesis tool based on a modified differential evolution algorithm, it is shown that the position-phase synthesis exhibits improved pattern characteristics compared to both the phase only and position only synthesis of uniform amplitude antenna arrays. The design of an unequally spaced planar reflect-array and an active power combining reflect-array are presented. The unit cell of the active reflect-array consists of an amplifying active reflect-antenna designed using a novel dual polarized microstrip-T coupled patch antenna. Two modelling approaches are proposed for the active reflect-antenna and the modelling methods are compared with the experiments. A computationally efficient analysis of an H-slot in the ground plane of a microstripline is carried out using a transmission line model. To improve the accuracy in the resonant region of the H-slot and retaining the computational efficiency, an artificial neural network is combined with an efficient spectral domain method. An efficient analysis tool for a silicon micromachined H-slot coupled antenna is developed by combining the transmission line models of the H-slot and an aperture coupled antenna. The experimental results are compared with the theory showing good agreement. The analysis and design of a microwave amplifier based on non-resonant slot matching is carried out. It is seen that the designed slot matched amplifier has decreased layout size, improved gain and noise figure characteristics compared to a stub matched amplifier. An efficient method for the analysis of non-resonant slots is compared with other approaches showing good agreement. This points to the fact that non-resonant slot matched circuits can be designed with the same speed and efficiency as we design the traditional stub based matching circuits. To address the problem of bandwidth and performance of reflect-arrays we propose a dielectric resonator antenna with slotline stubs. As a preliminary step we design a dielectric resonator antenna with slotline feed and the experimental results are compared with those of a commercial CAD tool. Design and analysis of 3D interconnects based on non-radiative dielectric waveguides is carried out. At millimeterwave, these interconnects are useful for hybrid and multilayer integration techniques.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This thesis examines the process by which enlisted goal shares are generated by Commander, Navy Recruiting Command (CNRC) and assigned to Navy Regional recruiting commands. Through use of an econometric goaling and forecasting model employed by CNRC and a less complicated weighting system used by Regions, goal shares are generated using factors believed to accurately predict future recruiting success. The factors used in the new contract prediction model include local economic conditions, population demographics, and recruiting resources. This thesis evaluates these factors to obtain a clear understanding of how each affects the establishment of goal shares. The various levels within the recruiting organization are analyzed, to include a discussion on how each of these levels prioritizes assigned goals, specifically accessions and new contract objectives, and the reasons why these priorities differ across levels within the organization. The thesis analyzes the role of past production data and Production per Recruiter (PPR) in establishing goal. Recruiter incentives and potential impacts of these incentives on the attainment of quality contracts are also discussed. Finally, the accuracy of CNRC forecasts is evaluated and recommendations are made to help ensure the continued success of these forecasts well into the future. This thesis finds CNRC's goaling forecasts to be quite accurate; however, with more precise data for a few specific variables within the goaling model, it is believed the accuracy of forecasts could be improved. Additionally, this thesis finds that due to current recruiter incentives, recruiters may not be motivated to contract the best possible candidates for enlistment at all times. / Lieutenant, United States Navy