Conceptual analyses of extensible booms to support a solar sail

Extensible booms which could function as the diagonal spars and central mast of an 800 meter square, non-rotating Solar Sailing Vehicle were conceptually designed and analyzed. The boom design concept that was investigated is an extensible lattice boom which is stowed and deployed by elastically coiling and uncoiling its continuous longerons. The seven different free-span lengths in each spar which would minimize the total weights of the spars and mast were determined. Boom weights were calculated by using a semi-empirical formulation which related the overall weight of a boom to the weight of its longerons

Spherulite formation in obsidian lavas in the Aeolian Islands, Italy

The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge Andy Tindle (The Open University) for assistance with EMP analyses, and Richard Darton and David Evans (Keele University) for assistance with XRD and Prof Alun Vaughan and Nicola Freebody (University of Southampton) with Raman analyses. LAB is grateful to Sophie Blanchard for support with MATLAB. The authors acknowledge support from Keele University, and grants from the Mineralogical Society (UK and Ireland) and Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group. The authors thank Silvio Mollo and Francesca Forni for their detailed and helpful comments.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Unusual, basin-scale, fluid–rock interaction in the Palaeoproterozoic Onega basin from Fennoscandia : Preservation in calcite δ18O of an ancient high geothermal gradient

Acknowledgements We acknowledge financial support from ICDP for the drilling programme. AEF, ATB and ARP thank NERC for financial support through NE/G00398X/1. VAM thanks the Norwegian Research Council for financial support through 191530/V30. We are grateful for sample preparation and analyses to all the personnel at NGU lab. At SUERC we enjoyed exceptional analytical support from Julie Dougans. Anonymous reviewers and the editor provided comments that improved the final manuscript.Peer reviewedPostprin

Hope Measurement in Mexican American Youth

Hope is a motivational construct that has been associated with many positive outcomes in children, adolescents, and adults. Although research with the Children’s Hope Scale (CHS) has demonstrated support for the reliability and validity of the CHS with various samples of youth, there is little empirical evidence for its use with Latino youth. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the six-item CHS in a sample of 135 Mexican American youth. Confirmatory factor analyses provided support for a hierarchical representation of the CHS with two underlying factors (pathways and agency). CHS scores were found to be positively correlated with measures of positive affect, life satisfaction, support from family and friends, and optimism. Additional analyses provided evidence supporting convergent validity and measurement invariance across gender. Implications and directions for future research are discussed

Harnessing technology local authorities survey 2007

The report presents and analyses the findings from the 2006-07 survey of local authorities covering their provision and support for ICT in schools

Psychosocial Correlates of Perceived Stress and Depressive Symptoms among Help-Seeking Hispanic Smokers

Objectives: Research has demonstrated robust associations between perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and cigarette smoking. The extent to which these findings from the general population generalize to Hispanic smokers is unknown. The present study examined (a) correlates of perceived stress and depressive symptoms among help-seeking Hispanic smokers and (b) whether maladaptive coping and social support were related to stress and depressive symptoms. Design: Hispanic smokers (N=123) enrolled in an RCT completed demographic and smoking history, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, perceived social support, and maladaptive coping measures. Results: Bivariate associations indicated that perceived stress was positively correlated with depressive symptoms and maladaptive coping, and inversely related to perceived social support. These relationships were maintained in multiple regression analyses. Depressive symptoms were positively correlated with nicotine dependence, perceived stress, and maladaptive coping, and inversely related to education and perceived social support. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated independent associations between depressive symptoms and maladaptive coping, perceived stress, and education, but not perceived social support or nicotine dependence. Conclusions: These findings suggest that stress and depression among Hispanics are related to factors known to impact cessation. Recommendations for targeted interventions are discussed

Summary of nozzle-exhaust plume flowfield analyses performed in support of space shuttle applications

Results are summarized of various analyses of the exhaust plumes of the space shuttle. Specific topics discussed included: the development of the two-phase plume flow field model, including finite rate chemistry and free molecular effects; analyses of exhaust plume simulation studies; verification of the analytical two-phase plume flow field model; and complete documentation of the two-phase plume computer code

A Decision-Support Framework For Using Value Capture to Fund Public Transit: Lessons From Project-Specific Analyses

Local and state governments provide 75 percent of transit funds in the United States. With all levels of governments under significant fiscal stress, any new transit funding mechanism is welcome. Value capture (VC) is one such mechanism. Based on the “benefits received” principle, VC involves the identification and capture of public infrastructure-led increase in land value. While the literature has extensively demonstrated the property-value impacts of transit investments and has empirically simulated the potential magnitude of VC revenues for financing transit facilities, very little research has examined the suitability of VC mechanisms for specific transit projects. This report aims to fill this research gap by examining five VC mechanisms in depth: tax-increment financing (TIF), special assessment districts (SADs), transit impact fees, joint developments, and air rights. The report is intended to assist practitioners in gauging the legal, financial, and administrative suitability of VC mechanisms for meeting project-specific funding requirements

Use of Rock Mass Rating (RMR) values for support designs of tunnels excavated in soft rocks without squeezing problem

Effect of the rock material strength on the RMR value and tunnel support designs were investigated within this study including site works, analytical and numerical analyses. It was found that rock material strength effect is quite limited in the RMR method to determine an accurate rock mass class to design tunnel support. Since the limitation, rock mass classes are evaluated to be usually misleading and supports designed in accordance with the RMR value are insufficient for tunnels excavated in rock masses with low strength values of rock materials. Totally, five different tunnels in Turkey have been supported using a new strength adjustment factor calculated in consideration of the in-situ stress and the uniaxial compressive strength values of rock materials. As confirmed by the field applications, analytical and numerical analyses, a newly modified RMR value (RMRus) was suggested to be used in tunnel support design works

Predicting job satisfaction and depression at work: how important are work-related factors?

This study compared the degree to which work characteristics added to the prediction of two outcomes (job satisfaction and depression) in a sample of employed Australians after controlling for measures of personality and affectivity (both positive and negative). The main purpose was to examine the unique contribution of various work characteristics to the prediction of job satisfaction and depression. A total of 280 employed participants completed the online survey that assessed the four work characteristics (demands, control, supervisor support and co-worker support), personality (Extraversion and Neuroticism),both positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), job satisfaction and depressive symptoms. Several hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. The results of the analyses predicting job satisfaction showed that the four work characteristics explained a small but significant proportion of job satisfaction ( R2 = .04, p > .001) after controlling for PA and NA at step 1 (R2 = .60, p > .001) and personality variables at step 2 ( R2 = .00, ns). Control and co-worker support were significant unique predictors of job satisfaction. The results of the analyses predicting depression showed that the four work characteristics explained a nonsignificant proportion of depression ( R2 = .01, ns) after controlling for PA and NA at step 1 (R2 = .29, p > .001) and personality variables at step 2 ( R2 = .21, p > .001). These results are important in that levels of job satisfaction are mainly explained by affect (PA and NA) with a weak contribution from level of job control and co-worker support but no unique contribution from personality variables. When predicting the presence of depressive symptoms, the personality variables contributed additional variance after controlling for PA and NA but there were no unique contributions from the work characteristics. This study compared the degree to which work characteristics added to the prediction of two outcomes(job satisfaction and depression) in a sample of employed Australians after controlling for measures of personality and affectivity (both positive and negative). The main purpose was to examine the unique contribution of various work characteristics to the prediction of job satisfaction and depression. A total of 280 employed participants completed the online survey that assessed the four work characteristics (demands, control, supervisor support and co-worker support), personality (Extraversion and Neuroticism), both positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), job satisfaction and depressive symptoms. Several hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. The results of the analyses predicting job satisfaction showed that the four work characteristics explained a small but significant proportion of job satisfaction ( R2 = .04, p > .001) after controlling for PA and NA at step 1 (R2 = .60, p > .001) and personality variables at step 2 ( R2 = .00, ns). Control and co-worker support were significant unique predictors of job satisfaction. The results of the analyses predicting depression showed that the four work characteristics explained a nonsignificant proportion of depression ( R2 = .01, ns) after controlling for PA and NA at step 1 (R2 = .29, p > .001) and personality variables at step 2 ( R2 = .21, p > .001). These results are important in that levels of job satisfaction are mainly explained by affect (PA and NA) with a weak contribution from level of job control and co-worker support but no unique contribution from personality variables. When predicting the presence of depressive symptoms, the personality variables contributed additional variance after controlling for PA and NA but there were no unique contributions from the work characteristics. The focus of work-related interventions designed to improve satisfaction or alleviate depression should give priority to the determinants of PA and NA which have been found to include several workplace characteristics (work demands, control, supervisor support and co-worker support), personality traits, and personal resources such as mastery and efficacy beliefs, a sense of autonomy, positive relatedness with others, and self acceptanc