The Promise of Open Educational Resources

This whitepaper defines OER, discusses what underlies the open educational resources movement and the current status of open educational resources, presents MIT's OpenCourseware project as a case-study, and concludes with future visions for teaching and learning, challenges, and observations

Development of an atmospheric monitoring plan for space station

An environmental health monitoring plan for Space Station will ensure crew health during prolonged habitation. The Space Station, Freedom, will operate for extended periods, 90+ days, without resupply. A regenerative, closed loop life support system will be utilized in order to minimize resupply logistics and costs. Overboard disposal of wastes and venting of gases to space will be minimal. All waste material will be treated and recycled. The concentrated wastes will be stabilized and stored for ground disposal. The expected useful life of the station (decades) and the diversity of materials brought aboard for experimental or manufacturing purposes, increases the likelihood of cabin contamination. Processes by which cabin contamination can occur include: biological waste production, material off-gassing, process leakage, accidental containment breach, and accumulation due to poor removal efficiencies of the purification units. An industrial hygiene approach was taken to rationalize monitoring needs and to identify the substances likely to be present, the amount, and their hazard

Identifying atmospheric monitoring needs for Space Station Freedom

The atmospheric monitoring needs for Space Station Freedom were identified by examining the following from an industrial hygiene perspective: the experiences of past missions; ground based tests of proposed life support systems; the unique experimental and manufacturing facilities; the contaminant load model; metabolic production; and a fire. A target list of compounds to be monitored is presented and information is provided relative to the frequency of analysis, concentration ranges, and locations for monitoring probes

Commercial air transport hazard warning and avoidance system. Volume 1 - Summary Final report

Operational requirements for commercial air transport hazard warning and avoidance syste

A Call for Change: The Social and Educational Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools

The Council of the Great City Schools is a coalition of 65 of the country's biggest urban school systems. Educating nearly 30 percent of the country's African-American males, urban schools are vital to black male achievement. This study draws attention to new analyses of disaggregated education data, profiles black males who have achieved academic success, and provides a plan of action moving forward

Is It All Relative? Effects of Prosodic Boundaries on the Comprehension and Production of Attachment Ambiguities

While there is ample evidence that prosody and syntax mutually constrain each other, there is considerable uncertainty about the nature of this interface. Here, we explore this issue with prepositional phrase attachment ambiguities (You can $feel_A$ the $cat_B$ with the feather). Prior research has been motivated by two hypotheses: (1) the absolute boundary hypothesis (ABH) posits that attachment preferences depend on the size of the prosodic boundary before the ambiguous phrase (boundary B) and (2) the relative boundary hypothesis (RBH) links attachment to the relative size of boundary B and any boundary between the high and low attachment site (boundary A). However, few experiments test the unique predictions of either theory. Study 1 examines how syntax influences prosodic production. The results provide modest support for RBH and stronger support for ABH. In Study 2, we systematically vary the size of both boundaries in an offline comprehension task. We find that absolute boundary strength influences interpretation when relative boundary strength is held constant, and relative boundary strength influences interpretation when absolute boundary strength is held constant. Thus, our theory of the prosody syntax interface must account for effects of both kinds.Psycholog

Rethinking Leadership: The Changing Role of Principal Supervisors

In the fall of 2012, the Council of the Great City Schools launched a two-part study of the ways principal supervisors are selected, supported, and evaluated in major school districts across the country. The first part involved a survey administered to district staff serving as principal supervisors in the fall of 2012. The second part of the study involved site visits to the six districts participating in The Wallace Foundation's Principal Pipeline Initiative -- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Denver Public Schools, Gwinnett County Public Schools, Hillsborough County Public Schools, the New York City Department of Education, and Prince George's County Public Schools. This report provides a summary of findings from both the survey and site visits. Part I presents a description of the organizational structure and general features of the various principal supervisory systems, including the roles, selection, deployment, staffing, professional development, and evaluation of principal supervisors, as well as the preparation, selection, support, and evaluation of principals. Part II provides recommendations for building more effective principal supervisory systems. Based on the survey results and observations from the site visits, these recommendations identify those structures and practices that are most likely to result in stronger school leaders and higher student achievement

Commercial air transport hazard warning and avoidance system. Volume 2 - Requirements studies Final report

Operational requirements and cost effectiveness of commercial air transport hazard warning and avoidance syste

BUDGET PERSPECTIVES 2009. RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 4 OCTOBER 2008

The context for this year’s Budget differs sharply from most of those in the past decade and a half. The global economy has been buffeted by crises in financial markets. Oil prices, even after recent falls, are at very high levels. Furthermore, the sharp decline in housing activity in Ireland carries negative implications both for employment and for tax revenues. A consequence of the changed situation is that the date of the 2009 Budget has been brought forward by eight weeks. This year’s Budget Perspectives Conference, co-hosted by The Economic and Social Research Institute and the Foundation for Fiscal Studies, provides several inputs to inform macroeconomic decision making in these challenging times. In addition, two longer-term issues are addressed. The first of these deals with the policy framework for climate change, an issue that has risen rapidly on the Irish policy horizon in recent years. The second issue is the effectiveness of public spending in achieving its objectives in the area of sport, which is now recognised as an important contributor to health and quality of life in modern society

UAV swarm attack: protection system alternatives for Destroyers

Systems Engineering Project ReportThe Navy needs to protect Destroyers (DDGs) from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) attacks. The team, focusing on improving the DDG’s defenses against small radar cross section UAVs making suicide attacks, established a DRM, identified current capability gaps, established a functional flow, created requirements, modeled the DDG’s current sensing and engagement capabilities in Microsoft Excel, and used Monte Carlo analysis of 500 simulation runs to determine that four out of eight incoming IED UAVs are likely to hit the ship. Sensitivity analysis showed that improving weapon systems is more effec-tive than improving sensor systems, inspiring the generation of alternatives for improving UAV defense. For the eight feasible alternatives the team estimated cost, assessed risk in accordance with the requirements, simulated performance against the eight incoming UAVs, and performed cost benefit analysis. Adding CIWS mounts is the most cost effec-tive alternative, reducing the average number of UAV hits from a baseline of 3.82 to 2.50, costing $816M to equip the 62-DDG fleet for a 12-year life cycle. Combining that with upgraded EW capabilities to jam remote-controlled UAVs reduces the hits to 1.56 for$1844M, and combining those with decoy launchers to defeat the radar-seeking Har-py UAVs reduces the hits to 1.12 for $2862M.http://archive.org/details/uavswarmttackpro1094528669Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited