STS-45 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-45 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report contains a summary of the vehicle subsystem operations during the forty-sixth flight of the Space Shuttle Program and the eleventh flight of the Orbiter Vehicle Atlantis (OV-104). In addition to the Atlantis vehicle, the flight vehicle consisted of the following: an External Tank (ET) designated as ET-44 (LWT-37); three Space Shuttle main engines (SSME's), which were serial numbers 2024, 2012, and 2028 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's) designated as BI-049. The lightweight redesigned Solid Rocket Motors (RSRM's) installed in each of the SRB's were designated as 360L021A for the left SRM and 360W021B for the right SRM. The primary objective of this mission was to successfully perform the planned operations of the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-1 (ATLAS-1) and the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Instrument (SSBUV) payloads. The secondary objectives were to successfully perform all operations necessary to support the requirements of the following: the Space Tissue Loss-01 (STL-01) experiment; the Radiation Monitoring Equipment-3 (RME-3) experiment; the Visual Function Tester-2 (VFT-2) experiment; the Cloud Logic to Optimize use of Defense System (CLOUDS-1A) experiment; the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment 2 (SAREX-2) Configuration B; the Investigation into Polymer Membranes Processing experiment; and the Get-Away Special (GAS) payload G-229. The Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPI) was a payload of opportunity that required no special maneuvers. In addition to the primary and secondary objectives, the crew was tasked to perform as many as 10 Development Test Objectives (DTO'S) and 14 Detailed Supplementary Objectives (DSO's)

Comparative study between fisher anatomical subunit approximation technique and millard rotation- advancement technique in unilateral cleft lip repair

Introduction: The ideal lip repair is characterized by; the symmetrical shape of nasolabial folds and both alae of the nose with a natural-looking philtrum and Cupid’s bow in both static and dynamic states, in addition to a hidden scar.Objective: to compare between Fisher anatomical subunit approximation technique and Millard rotational advancement technique in unilateral cleft lip repair.Methods: Prospective study for 40 patients presented to Alexandria Main University hospital with unilateral cleft lip deformity between March 2019 and October 2020. Twenty patients with unilateral cleft lip deformity were repaired by Fisher anatomical subunit approximation technique, while the other twenty were repaired by Millard rotational-advancement technique. The postoperative photographs of the patients were captured and processed in computer photogrammetry software through which anthropometric parameters including (lip height, lip width, vermilion height, and alar base width) were compared between the normal side and the repaired side. In this software, each anthropometric parameter length on the normal side is taken as a control with a fixed value of (1) then the same parameter on the repaired side was measured as a ratio of this value to avoid bias. Comparison between both groups for assessment of the quality of cleft lip repair was also done based on Steffensen grading criteria.Results: Comparison between both techniques in unilateral cleft lip repair showed that there was no significant difference between them in the anthropometric measurements. While the comparison between the two groups using Steffensen grading criteria showed that Fisher’s technique surpassed Millard’s technique.Conclusion: We recommend the use of the Fisher anatomical subunit approximation technique in unilateral cleft lip repair for its superior results over the Millard rotational advancement technique

A Comparative Study of Soiling on Solar Mirrors in Portugal and Morocco: Preliminary Results for the Dry Season

Soiling is a factor of major importance regarding any solar energy conversion technology, as in Photovoltaic (PV) panels and, namely, in concentrated solar power (CSP), since scattering due to particle deposition severely reduces the mirror’s reflectance. Concerned with this problem, a collaboration between the Renewable Energies Chair, University of Évora, Portugal and the Institut de Recherche en Energie Solaire et Energies Nouvelles, Morocco, was created to investigate and compare soiling in mirrors in both locations. This research enables the comparison between particle deposition effects in the two climates, crucial to implement mitigation measures. Southern Portugal and Northern Africa have considerable potential for future CSP installations, which makes this study relevant from an economical point of view, as it may influence the maintenance procedures and expected energy production of such CSP plants

Investigating Two Domain-General Processes in Early Infancy: Disjunctive Inference and Reorientation of Attention

A characteristic of the more evolved nervous systems is the ability to process information in an abstract amodal domain. The existence of this capability, necessitates the presence of mental processes that are amodal and therefore, can act on a broad range of internal and external stimuli. Investigating the early development of the interaction between the amodal mental processes and their domain of action on mental representations, can shed light on the extents of the computations that can be accommodated by these processes. In this thesis through a series of eye-tracking studies in pre-verbal infants, we attempted to investigate the early development of some of these interactions from two different domains. In one domain, we addressed if logical operators, as a subset of the mental processes, are available to pre-verbal infants; so they can be utilized in combining and assessing the several mental images involved in an inference process. For this purpose, we introduced a face-voice association paradigm, in which infants could potentially use disjunctive inference to disambiguate the context and make the right face-voice pairings. We showed that the performance of the 10-month-old infants suggests that they might be able to perform this association through the process of disjunctive inference based on the elimination of the incorrect alternative. We furthermore, used the pupillometry data and results from an adult control group to suggest a time-frame for the steps of this process. In another domain, we studied the integration of abstract visual icons with attentional shift. In one hand we showed that arrows can trigger an attentional shift in the 4-month-old infants but not 8-month-olds. We further showed that this reorientation of attention might be due to the triangular area of the icon. These striking results, although should await further confirmations, suggest an early sensitivity to the features of these icons, which can trigger a top-down reorientation of attention (as we tried to eliminate the possibility of a bottom-up process). A sensitivity that possibly disappears later in the development. On the other hand, we showed that 8-month-olds and not 4-month-olds can assign an attentional shift to an arbitrary icon in a very few number of trials. These results together suggest a mixed picture for attribution of attentional shift to the icons; however indicating that a volitional attribution of attention to arbitrary icons can be carried out by infants as young as 8 months of age

Energy Efficient Photovoltaic Systems using Thermoelectric Cooling System

Dual thermoelectric-photovoltaic (TE-PV) systems are a type of solar energy technology that combines two different technologies to generate electricity by concentrating solar radiation. These systems use a solar concentrator to focus sunlight onto a photovoltaic cell and a thermoelectric generator. The aim of this paper is to develop a dual thermoelectric-photovoltaic system with a water-cooled heat sink to generate electricity from concentrated solar radiation through Fresnel lenses.In addition, the detailed design for the components that will be integrated into an experimental prototype of the dual system on a laboratory scale is carried out and its functionality is determined. Finally, its functionality is evaluated and achieved an estimated maximum power of 1.5 Watts

Improved ECMWF forecasts of direct normal irradiance: A tool for better operational strategies in concentrating solar power plants

To contribute for improved operational strategies of concentrating solar power plants with accurate forecasts of direct normal irradiance, this work describes the use of several post-processing methods on numerical weather prediction. Focus is given to a multivariate regression model that uses measured irradiance values from previous hours to improve next-hour predictions, which can be used to refine daily strategies based on day-ahead predictions. Short-term forecasts provided by the Integrated Forecasting System, the global model from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), are used together with measurements in southern Portugal. As a nowcasting tool, the proposed regression model significantly improves hourly predictions with a skill score of z0.84 (i.e. an increase of z27.29% towards the original hourly forecasts). Using previous-day measured availability to improve next-day forecasts, the model shows a skill score of z0.78 (i.e. an increase of z6% towards the original forecasts), being further improved if larger sets of data are used. Through a power plant simulator (i.e. the System Advisor Model), a preliminary economic analysis shows that using improved hourly predictions of electrical energy allows to enhance a power plant’s profit in z0.44 MV/year, as compared with the original forecasts. Operational strategies are proposed accordingly

The role of a student group worker in a temporary group foster home

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit