Applicability of relative GPS to automated rendezvous between the space shuttle and space station

The purpose of this study is to determine the adequacy of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in providing relative navigation for automated rendezvous and proximity operations. The study was performed using the Proximity Operations Simulator (POS), Lockheed's high-fidelity, 6 degree of freedom simulation of the space shuttle and space station. This simulation includes identical models of GPS receivers for each vehicle. The navigation software in each vehicle includes identical Kalman filters. Each filter computes the absolute state of its vehicle, and the relative state vector is obtained by simply subtracting absolute states

Applicability of relative GPS to automated rendezvous between the space shuttle and Space Station

The purpose of this study is to determine the adequacy of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in providing relative navigation for automated rendezvous and proximity operations. The study was performed using the Proximity Operations Simulator (POS), Lockheed's high-fidelity, six-degree-of-freedom simulation of the Space Shuttle and Space Station. This simulation includes identical models of GPS receivers for each vehicle. The navigation software in each vehicle includes identical Kalman filters. Each vehicle estimates its own state, and the relative state is obtained by simply subtracting absolute states

The Design of an Internal Resource Allocation Model for Use in Higher Education

A computer model has been developed for the purpose of allocating funds, by department, within a university. This model categorizes each class as one of three types -- lecture, problem solving, or laboratory. A standard class size is assigned to each type -- 40, 25, and 10 respectively. Combining the previous years head count for each class with the credit-hour value of each class, a faculty position count for every department is generated. Administrative positions, staff positions, operating expense, and operating capital funds are calculated using various combinations of factors involving student credit hours, faculty positions, and class type. Factors used by the model were derived from historical averages as reported in the requisite literature. These factors are generally alterable by user input to meet the general requirements of the institution. Faculty salary figures were taken from the Oklahoma Salary Survey for 1984, and staff salary figures from the Career Service Salary Plan used in the State of Florida. A frequently used computer program, Lotus 1-2-3, was used to implement the model. This software package is a spreadsheet that offers limited programming capability through a facility called keyboard macros. This function allows a transparent operation for the user; he/she simply responds to program prompts and receives a printout of model outputs. The model was verified by testing it against an actual allocation involving the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Central Florida. The pilot study was used as a means of verifying the model\u27s reasonableness as a budgetary tool. The model-generated allocation mix was used to apportion the actual allocation for 20 departments within a college. A study was undertaken to compare and analyze differences between actual and model-generated figures. Where large variations existed, an analysis was performed to determine the cause. This model represents a step toward incorporation the concepts of fixed and variable costs into the internal allocation process and encourages the use of personal computers to assist in budgetary planning

Optoelectronic properties and energy transport processes in cylindrical J-aggregates

textThe light harvesting systems of photosynthetic organisms harness solar energy by efficient light capture and subsequent transport of the light’s energy to a chemical reaction center. Man-made optical devices could benefit by mimicking these naturally occurring light harvesting processes. Supramolecular organic nanostructures, composed of the amphiphilic carbocyanine dye 3,3’-bis- (2-sulfopropyl)-5,5’,6,6’-tetrachloro-1,1’- dioctylbenzimida-carbocyanine (C8S3), self assemble in aqueous solution to form tubular, double-walled J-aggregates. These J-aggregates have drawn comparisons to light harvesting systems, owing to their optical and structural similarities to the cylindrical chlorosomes (antenna) from green sulfur bacteria. This research utilizes optical spectroscopy and microscopy to study the supramolecular origins of the exciton transitions and fundamental nature of exciton energy transport in C8S3 artificial light harvesting systems. Two J-aggregate morphologies are investigated: well-separated, double-walled nanotubes and bundles of agglomerated nanotubes. Linear dichroism spectroscopy of flow-aligned nanotubes is used to generate the first quantitative, polarized model for the complicated C8S3 nanotube excitonic absorption spectrum that is consistent with theoretical predictions. The C8S3 J-aggregate photophysical properties are further explored, as the Stokes shift, quantum yield, and spectral line broadening are measured as a function of temperature from 77 – 298 K. The temperature-dependent emission ratios of the C8S3 J-aggregate two-band fluorescence spectra reveal that nanotube emission is well described with Boltzmann partitioning between states, while the bundles’ is not. Finally, understanding energy transport in these materials is critical for the proposed use of artificial light harvesting systems in optoelectronic devices. The spatial extent of energy transfer in individual C8S3 J- aggregate structures is directly determined using fluorescence imaging. We find that aggregate structural hierarchy greatly influences exciton transport distances: impressive average exciton migration distances of ~ 150 nm are measured along the nanotubes, while these distances increase to over 500 nm in the bundle superstructures.Chemistr

Historical fiction for children and young people : changing fashions, changing forms, changing representations in British writing, 1934-2014

PhD ThesisIn Language and Ideology in Children’s Fiction (1992) John Stephens forecast the demise of children’s historical fiction as a genre on the grounds that both history itself and the humanist values Stephens saw as underpinning historical fiction were irrelevant to young readers in postmodernity and intrinsically at odds with the attitudes and values of literary postmodernism. In fact, by the end of the millennium juvenile historical fiction was resurgent and continues to propagate humanist ideology. This study explores the changing nature and status of the genre as it has been published in Britain since Geoffrey Trease’s ground‐breaking Bows Against the Barons, a left‐wing retelling of the Robin Hood story, was published in 1934. Consideration is given to the relationship between cultural change and the treatment of the structure, themes, settings and characters that typically feature in historical novels for the young. The work comprises an Introduction and three themed case studies based on a character (Robin Hood), a historical period (the long eighteenth century), and a historical event (the First World War). The case studies are used both to chart changes in the nature, quantity, and reception of historical fiction and to demonstrate the extent to which writers have used historical narratives to explore concerns that were topical at the time the books were written. In addition to the case studies, which of necessity discuss only a proportion of the texts published on each topic, the thesis includes complementary appendices which provide comprehensive bibliographies for the subject. Key changes noted over the period include the rise since the 1970s of historical novels featuring groups that were previously marginalised on the grounds of gender, sexuality, class and/or race; adjustments to the age and audience of historical fiction, and considerable use of fantasy elements including timeslip narratives. Texts discussed in detail include works by Enid Blyton, Hester Burton, Elsie McCutcheon, Marjorie Darke, Penelope Farmer, Leon Garfield, Julia Golding, Stephen R. Lawhead, Robyn McKinley, Linda Newbery, K.M. Peyton, Marcus Sedgwick, Theresa Tomlinson and Geoffrey Trease

Love from the Machine: Technosexualities and the Desire for Machinic Bodies

This dissertation explores the dimensions and practices of technosexualities - human desires for machinic bodies. For the purposes of this project, technosexualities are defined as sexual and/or other intimate desires for technologically enhanced or constructed humanoid bodies ( machinic bodies ) or the desire to be such a machinic body. A machinic body may be mechanical (robotic) and/or digital, techno-biological (as per biological computing and/or a laboratory-“grown” or built body), or “cyborg” (cybernetic organism, a partially technologically-modified, partially biological body.) Rather than interpreting technosexuals as troubled or disturbed “fetishists” who are attracted to the unnatural, or imposing suppositions of feelings of impotence and desire for power as other sources have portrayed them, I explore technosexualities through the lens of “bodies and pleasures” (Foucault, 1978.) As such, this project engages with literature on bodies and embodiment (including medical anthropology literature on the body,) gender, literatures of the burgeoning nonhuman turn in the social sciences that explores human/nonhuman bodily interactions, science and technology studies, stigmatization, and the pertinent literature on online communities. Understanding the complication and fluidities of body/technology interactions with the nonhuman, especially surrounding desire, intimacies, and perceived bodily boundaries (particularly for individuals who want to be machinic bodies) is of increasing importance as new and emerging technologies become further integrated into contemporary life (and bodies, in the form of both medical and cosmetic surgical interventions) This project also explores this non-heteronormative, non-reproductive set of desires by looking at how those who engage in technosexualities of various types approach issues of stigmatization, secrecy, and the pressure of “passing” under compulsory heteronormativity. Although no attempt is made to discover some root cause of technosexualities per se (as this is not a medical investigation and technosexualities are not being treated here as a paraphilia - a fetish ) a potential and partial explanation for technosexual desires is discussed. Through a combination of structured online interviews, participant-observation at the online research site of Fembot Central and discourse analysis at the research site, I investigate the thoughts, affects, practices, and group interactions of those who desire machinic bodies

Gender Differences in Student Learning: A Review of the Literature from the Neuroscience and Psychology Perspectives

Literature from the fields of psychology and neuroscience were examined to establish what scientifically based information was available regarding gender differences. Myths of the past, psychological and neuroscientific perspectives, gender specific differences for students with genetic and metabolic-based exceptionalities, gender specific changes in behavior through maturation, and the educational implications for gender differences were included. The results indicated that children show developmental differences in expression of emotion, metacognition, and cognition, and the developmental differences are influenced by gender. The implications for educational practices are that curriculum, instruction, and assessment can be aligned to meet the unique need of both male and female students