7,842 research outputs found
User community development for the space transportation system/Skylab
The New User Function plan for identifying beneficial uses of space is described. Critical issues such as funding, manpower, and protection of user proprietary rights are discussed along with common barriers which impede the development of a user community. Studies for developing methodologies of identifying new users and uses of the space transportation system are included
Development of methodologies and procedures for identifying STS users and uses
A study was conducted to identify new uses and users of the new Space Transporation System (STS) within the domestic government sector. The study develops a series of analytical techniques and well-defined functions structured as an integrated planning process to assure efficient and meaningful use of the STS. The purpose of the study is to provide NASA with the following functions: (1) to realize efficient and economic use of the STS and other NASA capabilities, (2) to identify new users and uses of the STS, (3) to contribute to organized planning activities for both current and future programs, and (4) to air in analyzing uses of NASA's overall capabilities
User benefits and funding strategies
The justification, economic and technological benefits of NASA Space Programs (aside from pure scientific objectives), in improving the quality of life in the United States is discussed and outlined. Specifically, a three-step, systematic method is described for selecting relevant and highly beneficial payloads and instruments for the Interim Upper Stage (IUS) that will be used with the space shuttle until the space tug becomes available. Viable Government and private industry cost-sharing strategies which would maximize the number of IUS payloads, and the benefits obtainable under a limited NASA budget were also determined. Charts are shown which list the payload instruments, and their relevance in contributing to such areas as earth resources management, agriculture, weather forecasting, and many others
Soft core fluid in a quenched matrix of soft core particles: A mobile mixture in a model gel
We present a density-functional study of a binary phase-separating mixture of
soft core particles immersed in a random matrix of quenched soft core particles
of larger size. This is a model for a binary polymer mixture immersed in a
crosslinked rigid polymer network. Using the replica `trick' for
quenched-annealed mixtures we derive an explicit density functional theory that
treats the quenched species on the level of its one-body density distribution.
The relation to a set of effective external potentials acting on the annealed
components is discussed. We relate matrix-induced condensation in bulk to the
behaviour of the mixture around a single large particle. The interfacial
properties of the binary mixture at a surface of the quenched matrix display a
rich interplay between capillary condensation inside the bulk matrix and
wetting phenomena at the matrix surface.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for Phys. Rev.
Beyond the Call of Beauty: Everyday Aesthetic Demands Under Patriarchy
This paper defends two claims. First, we will argue for the existence of aesthetic demands in the realm of everyday aesthetics, and that these demands are not reducible to moral demands. Second, we will argue that we must recognise the limits of these demands in order to combat a widespread form of gendered oppression. The concept of aesthetic supererogation offers a new structural framework to understand both the pernicious nature of this oppression and what may be done to mitigate it
Phase behavior of a fluid with competing attractive and repulsive interactions
Fluids in which the interparticle potential has a hard core, is attractive at
moderate separations, and repulsive at greater separations are known to exhibit
novel phase behavior, including stable inhomogeneous phases. Here we report a
joint simulation and theoretical study of such a fluid, focusing on the
relationship between the liquid-vapor transition line and any new phases. The
phase diagram is studied as a function of the amplitude of the attraction for a
certain fixed amplitude of the long ranged repulsion. We find that the effect
of the repulsion is to substitute the liquid-vapor critical point and a portion
of the associated liquid-vapor transition line, by two first order transitions.
One of these transitions separates the vapor from a fluid of spherical
liquidlike clusters; the other separates the liquid from a fluid of spherical
voids. At low temperature, the two transition lines intersect one another and a
vapor-liquid transition line at a triple point. While most integral equation
theories are unable to describe the new phase transitions, the Percus Yevick
approximation does succeed in capturing the vapor-cluster transition, as well
as aspects of the structure of the cluster fluid, in reasonable agreement with
the simulation results.Comment: 15 pages, 20 figure
A model colloidal fluid with competing interactions: bulk and interfacial properties
Using a simple mean-field density functional theory theory (DFT), we
investigate the structure and phase behaviour of a model colloidal fluid
composed of particles interacting via a pair potential which has a hard core of
diameter , is attractive Yukawa at intermediate separations and
repulsive Yukawa at large separations. We analyse the form of the asymptotic
decay of the bulk fluid correlation functions, comparing results from our DFT
with those from the self consistent Ornstein-Zernike approximation (SCOZA). In
both theories we find rich crossover behaviour, whereby the ultimate decay of
correlation functions changes from monotonic to long-wavelength damped
oscillatory decay on crossing certain lines in the phase diagram, or sometimes
from oscillatory to oscillatory with a longer wavelength. For some choices of
potential parameters we find, within the DFT, a -line at which the
fluid becomes unstable with respect to periodic density fluctuations. SCOZA
fails to yield solutions for state points near such a -line. The
propensity to clustering of particles, which is reflected by the presence of a
long wavelength , slowly decaying oscillatory pair correlation
function, and a structure factor that exhibits a very sharp maximum at small
but non zero wavenumbers, is enhanced in states near the -line. We
present density profiles for the planar liquid-gas interface and for fluids
adsorbed at a planar hard wall. The presence of a nearby -transition
gives rise to pronounced long-wavelength oscillations in the one-body densities
at both types of interface.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure
Budget Feasible Mechanisms for Experimental Design
In the classical experimental design setting, an experimenter E has access to
a population of potential experiment subjects , each
associated with a vector of features . Conducting an experiment
with subject reveals an unknown value to E. E typically assumes
some hypothetical relationship between 's and 's, e.g., , and estimates from experiments, e.g., through linear
regression. As a proxy for various practical constraints, E may select only a
subset of subjects on which to conduct the experiment.
We initiate the study of budgeted mechanisms for experimental design. In this
setting, E has a budget . Each subject declares an associated cost to be part of the experiment, and must be paid at least her cost. In
particular, the Experimental Design Problem (EDP) is to find a set of
subjects for the experiment that maximizes V(S) = \log\det(I_d+\sum_{i\in
S}x_i\T{x_i}) under the constraint ; our objective
function corresponds to the information gain in parameter that is
learned through linear regression methods, and is related to the so-called
-optimality criterion. Further, the subjects are strategic and may lie about
their costs.
We present a deterministic, polynomial time, budget feasible mechanism
scheme, that is approximately truthful and yields a constant factor
approximation to EDP. In particular, for any small and , we can construct a (12.98, )-approximate mechanism that is
-truthful and runs in polynomial time in both and
. We also establish that no truthful,
budget-feasible algorithms is possible within a factor 2 approximation, and
show how to generalize our approach to a wide class of learning problems,
beyond linear regression
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