Space station needs, attributes, and architectural options: Space station program cost analysis

This report documents the principal cost results (Task 3) derived from the Space Station Needs, Attributes, and Architectural Options study conducted for NASA by the McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company. The determined costs were those of Architectural Options (Task 2) defined to satisfy Mission Requirements (Task 1) developed within the study. A major feature of this part of the study was the consideration of realistic NASA budget constraints on the recommended architecture. Thus, the space station funding requirements were adjusted by altering schedules until they were consistent with current NASA budget trends

Mapping the UK webspace: Fifteen years of British universities on the web

This paper maps the national UK web presence on the basis of an analysis of the .uk domain from 1996 to 2010. It reviews previous attempts to use web archives to understand national web domains and describes the dataset. Next, it presents an analysis of the .uk domain, including the overall number of links in the archive and changes in the link density of different second-level domains over time. We then explore changes over time within a particular second-level domain, the academic subdomain .ac.uk, and compare linking practices with variables, including institutional affiliation, league table ranking, and geographic location. We do not detect institutional affiliation affecting linking practices and find only partial evidence of league table ranking affecting network centrality, but find a clear inverse relationship between the density of links and the geographical distance between universities. This echoes prior findings regarding offline academic activity, which allows us to argue that real-world factors like geography continue to shape academic relationships even in the Internet age. We conclude with directions for future uses of web archive resources in this emerging area of research

Big data and positive social change in the developing world: A white paper for practitioners and researchers

This white paper was produced by a group of activists, researchers and data experts who met at The Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Centre to discuss the question of whether, and how, big data is becoming a resource for positive social change in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Our working definition of big data includes, but is not limited to, sources such as social media, mobile phone use, digitally mediated transactions, the online news media, and administrative records. It can be categorised as data that is provided explicitly (e.g. social media feedback); data that is observed (e.g. mobile phone call records); and data that is inferred and derived by algorithms (for example social network structure or inflation rates). We defined four main areas where big data has potential for those interested in promoting positive social change: advocating and facilitating; describing and predicting; facilitating information exchange and promoting accountability and transparency.</p

How do Workers with Common Mental Disorders Experience a Multidisciplinary Return-to-Work Intervention? A Qualitative Study

Purpose Long-term sick leave due to common mental disorders (CMD) is an increasing problem in many countries. Recent reviews indicate that return to work (RTW) interventions have limited effect on reducing sickness absence among this group of sick-listed. The aims of this study were to investigate how sick-listed persons with CMD experienced participating in an RTW intervention and how workability assessments and RTW activities influenced their RTW-process, and to examine the working mechanisms of the intervention. The gained knowledge can help improve future RTW intervention design and implementation. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 participants on sick leave due to CMD who participated in an RTW intervention. Interviews were conducted at three time points with each participant. Principles of interpretative phenomenological analyses guided the analysis. Results The workability assessment consultations and RTW activities such as psychoeducative group sessions and individual sessions with psychologist could result in both motivation and frustration depending on the extent to which the RTW professionals practiced what we have termed an individual approach to the sicklisted person. Conclusions The individual approach seems necessary for the realization of the positive potential in the RTW intervention. However, the fact that RTW professionals are both the facilitators and the controllers of the sick-listed persons’ RTW process is an inherent paradox in the intervention, which can impede the necessary establishment of a high-quality relationship between the sicklisted persons and RTW professionals