Influence of structure and material research on advanced launch systems' weight, performance, and cost Summary report, May 25, 1965 - Jun. 30, 1967

Influence of structure and materials research on weight, performance, and cost of advanced launch vehicle system

Solar rocket system concept analysis

The use of solar energy to heat propellant for application to Earth orbital/planetary propulsion systems is of interest because of its performance capabilities. The achievable specific impulse values are approximately double those delivered by a chemical rocket system, and the thrust is at least an order of magnitude greater than that produced by a mercury bombardment ion propulsion thruster. The primary advantage the solar heater thruster has over a mercury ion bombardment system is that its significantly higher thrust permits a marked reduction in mission trip time. The development of the space transportation system, offers the opportunity to utilize the full performance potential of the solar rocket. The requirements for transfer from low Earth orbit (LEO) to geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) was examined as the return trip, GEO to LEO, both with and without payload. Payload weights considered ranged from 2000 to 100,000 pounds. The performance of the solar rocket was compared with that provided by LO2-LH2, N2O4-MMH, and mercury ion bombardment systems

Influence of structure and material research on advanced launch systems weight, performance, and cost. Phase 3 - Design synthesis of recoverable launch vehicle structures

Structural design synthesis of recoverable launch vehicle structure

Development of programmed assistance in directing structures research

Programmed assistance in directing launch vehicle structures researc

Decomposition of coarse woody debris in a long-term litter manipulation experiment: A focus on nutrient availability

The majority of above-ground carbon in tropical forests is stored in wood, which is returned to the atmosphere during decomposition of coarse woody debris. However, the factors controlling wood decomposition have not been experimentally manipulated over time scales comparable to the length of this process.We hypothesized that wood decomposition is limited by nutrient availability and tested this hypothesis in a long-term litter addition and removal experiment in a lowland tropical forest in Panama. Specifically, we quantified decomposition using a 15-year chronosequence of decaying boles, and measured respiration rates and nutrient limitation of wood decomposer communities.The long-term probability that a dead tree completely decomposed was decreased in plots where litter was removed, but did not differ between litter addition and control treatments. Similarly, respiration rates of wood decomposer communities were greater in control treatments relative to litter removal plots; litter addition treatments did not differ from either of the other treatments. Respiration rates increased in response to nutrient addition (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) in the litter removal and addition treatments, but not in the controls.Established decreases in concentrations of soil nutrients in litter removal plots and increased respiration rates in response to nutrient addition suggest that reduced rates of wood decomposition after litter removal were caused by decreased nutrient availability. The effects of litter manipulations differed directionally from a previous short-term decomposition study in the same plots, and reduced rates of bole decomposition in litter removal plots did not emerge until after more than 6 years of decomposition. These differences suggest that litter-mediated effects on nutrient dynamics have complex interactions with decomposition over time

Measuring the cost-effectiveness of treatments for people with multiple sclerosis: Beyond quality-adjusted life-years.

BACKGROUND: It is a familiar story. A promising multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment clears the three regulatory hurdles of safety, quality and efficacy, only to fall at the fourth: cost-effectiveness. This has led to concerns about the validity of the measures typically used to quantify treatment effects in cost-effectiveness analyses and in 2012, in the United Kingdom, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence called for an improvement in the cost-effectiveness framework for assessing MS treatments. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: This review describes what is meant by cost-effectiveness in health/social care funding decision-making, and usual practice for assessing treatment benefits. RESULTS: We detail the use of the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) in resource allocation decisions, and set out limitations of this approach in the context of MS. CONCLUSION: We conclude by highlighting methodological and policy developments which should aid addressing these limitations

Extreme managers, extreme workplaces: capitalism, organizations and corporate psychopaths

This paper reports on in-depth, qualitative research carried out in England in 2013 among five organizational directors and two senior managers who had worked with other senior directors or managers who were Corporate Psychopaths, as measured by a management psychopathy measure. The Corporate Psychopaths reported on in this research displayed remarkable consistency in their approach to management to the extent that they could be called “text book examples” of managerial psychopathy. They were seen as being organizational stars and as deserving of performance awards by those above them, while the Corporate Psychopaths simultaneously subjected those below them to extreme forms of behavior, including bullying, intimidation and coercion and also engaged in extreme forms of mismanagement; such as very poor levels of personnel management, directionless leadership, miss-management of resources and outright fraud