A Proactive and Top-Down Approach to Managing Risk at NASA

Our ultimate goal is to manage risk in a holistic and coherent fashion across the Agency: a) The RIDM process is intended to risk-inform direction-setting decisions. c) The CRM process is intended to manage risk associated with the implementation of baseline performance requirements. Currently we are working on: a) Enhancements to the CRM process. b) Better integration of the RIDM and CRM processes. c) Better integration of institutional risk considerations into RM framework

Second-Order Enhanced Coupling Strength Grating Out-Couplers for a Monolithic Laser-Electro-Absorption Modulator

Conventional grating out-couplers in III-V waveguides typically require lengths of several hundreds of microns to outcouple 50 to 90% of the incident optical power. Enhanced coupling strength (ECS) gratings, which reduce the out-coupler grating length to tens of microns, have a large relative permittivity difference between the materials on either side of the grating boundary along with a high index cover layer. With appropriately chosen permittivity and layer thicknesses, the addition of a cover layer “pulls” the peak of the optical mode towards the grating region, resulting in a significant increase in the grating confinement factor. The resulting ECS out-coupler is short, highly efficient, and can be integrated with other III-V optical components, including horizontal cavity lasers and modulators. The theoretical dependence of the magnitude and spectral width of the out-coupled power as a function of cover layer thickness, low index material thickness, grating depth, and duty cycle is shown using a Floquet-Bloch analysis for two different ECS grating geometries. The design of a high-speed datacom transmitter with ECS grating reflectors and an ECS grating out-coupler is discussed. The proposed laser with an integrated electro-absorption modulator (Laser-EAM) theoretically provides Pulse Amplitude Modulation 2-Level (PAM-2) data rates in excess of 100Gbps with lower latency, less power consumption, and lower cost than existing commercial devices

Risk-Informed Decision Making: Application to Technology Development Alternative Selection

NASA NPR 8000.4A, Agency Risk Management Procedural Requirements, defines risk management in terms of two complementary processes: Risk-informed Decision Making (RIDM) and Continuous Risk Management (CRM). The RIDM process is used to inform decision making by emphasizing proper use of risk analysis to make decisions that impact all mission execution domains (e.g., safety, technical, cost, and schedule) for program/projects and mission support organizations. The RIDM process supports the selection of an alternative prior to program commitment. The CRM process is used to manage risk associated with the implementation of the selected alternative. The two processes work together to foster proactive risk management at NASA. The Office of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA Headquarters has developed a technical handbook to provide guidance for implementing the RIDM process in the context of NASA risk management and systems engineering. This paper summarizes the key concepts and procedures of the RIDM process as presented in the handbook, and also illustrates how the RIDM process can be applied to the selection of technology investments as NASA's new technology development programs are initiated

Influence of Information Source Credibility and Quality on People's Attitude towards using it and electronic shopping behavior of information products

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the impact of resource credibility and quality on people's attitude towards it and the electronic shopping behavior of information products. Design / Methodology / Approach: Descriptive-analytic method with a causal-correlation approach used. Study sample was 364 students of Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. Results / Discussion: The results of the hypothesis test showed that the reliability (r = 0.404), being specialized (r = 0.365) and attractiveness (r = 0.239) affect the attitude of people towards using the source. Therefore, people's attitude towards using the source has a strong significant effect on electronic shopping behavior (r = 0.776). Conclusion: The effect of the mediating role of people's attitude toward using information sources on the relationship between source credibility and the behavior of shopping electronic information products was confirmed. Originality / Value: Because decision-making is a smart behavior and requires information support, The source of information used to support the decision must have the necessary quality and credibility. Based on the results of this study, the quality and credibility of the information source affect the attitude of users and their use of information resources.

Adolescents Needs Regarding a Digital Intervention for Eating Disorders: A Qualitative Study

Formål: Spiseforstyrrelser er en gruppe psykiske lidelser som ofte opptrer i ungdomsalderen og har alvorlige konsekvenser på et individuelt og samfunnsmessig nivå. Digitale behandlinger for spiseforstyrrelser har vist lovende resultater og kan øke tilgang til behandling og bedre psykopatologi. Tidligere studier antyder at det er viktig å inkludere brukerperspektivet i utviklingen av nye intervensjoner for å lykkes med implementeringen av digitale intervensjoner for ungdommer. Formålet med denne studien er å få innsikt i ungdommers behov knyttet til en digital intervensjon for spiseforstyrrelser. Metode: Semistrukturerte telefonintervju ble gjennomført med seks norske, kvinnelige ungdommer som hadde gjennomgått behandling for spiseforstyrrelser. Innsamlet data ble analysert ved hjelp av refleksiv tematisk analyse. Resultater: Vi identifiserte følgende tema: 1) “Å lære mens man behandler seg selv”- Viktigheten av troverdig informasjon om spiseforstyrrelser, 2) Bygge indre styrke og resiliens gjennom ferdighetsutvikling, 3) Viktigheten av en personifisert intervensjon- hvordan format og innhold kan motivere bruk. Konklusjon: Våre funn belyser hvordan brukerinvolvering i utviklingen av digitale intervensjoner for spiseforstyrrelser kan gi innsikt i perspektiv og behov hos potensielle sluttbrukere.Hovedoppgave psykologprogrammetPROPSY317PRPSY

Recent Rainfall Decline in West Africa Due to Enhanced Biomass Burning and Dust Emission

Rainfall in West Africa during boreal summer is primarily controlled by the low-level southerly monsoon flow that transports moisture from the Gulf of Guinea to the region and the African Easterly Jet that modulates the convective systems. However, the role of aerosols in rainfall variability of this region, despite the large emissions of dust and black carbon in Africa, is not well-understood. Our study reveals a decline in precipitation over Southern West Africa (SWA) in the past two decades that its trend and interannual variability present an indirect relationship with the aerosols loadings. Examining the local and remote sources of aerosols, we found that the latter have a larger contribution. We have used MERRA-2 large scale atmospheric dynamics and physics data to determine the mechanisms responsible for aerosol-rainfall interactions in the region. Our results have important implications for the people and ecosystem as the increasing rates of land use change, deforestation and urbanization in the continent are expected to enhance the aerosols. This will result in an increase in the frequency and intensity of the extreme events including droughts

Organizational Risk and Opportunity Management: Concepts and Processes for NASA's Consideration

The focus of this report is on the development of a framework and overall approach that serves the interests of nonprofit and Government organizations like NASA that focus on developing and/or applying new technology (henceforth referred to as organizations like NASA). These interests tend to place emphasis on performing services and achieving scientific and technical gains more than on achieving financial investment goals, which is the province of commercial enterprises. In addition, the objectives of organizations like NASA extend to institutional development and maintenance, financial health, legal and reputational protection, education and partnerships, and mandated milestone achievements. This report discusses the philosophical underpinnings of OROM for organizations like NASA, the integration of OROM with existing management processes, and the nature of the activities that are performed to implement OROM within this context. The proposed framework includes a set of core principles that would be essential to any successful OROM approach, along with some features that are currently under development and are continuing to evolve. The report is intended to foster discussion of OROM at NASA in order to reach a consensus on the optimum approach for the agency

Eutectic Salt Catalyzed Environmentally Benign and Highly Efficient Biginelli Reaction

A simple deep eutectic solvent based on tin (II) chloride was used as a dual catalyst and environmentally benign reaction medium for an efficient synthesis of 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one derivatives, from aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes, 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, and urea in good-to-excellent yields and short reaction time. This simple ammonium deep eutectic solvent, easily synthesized from choline chloride and tin chloride, is relatively inexpensive and recyclable, making it applicable for industrial applications

The Evolution of System Safety at NASA

The NASA system safety framework is in the process of change, motivated by the desire to promote an objectives-driven approach to system safety that explicitly focuses system safety efforts on system-level safety performance, and serves to unify, in a purposeful manner, safety-related activities that otherwise might be done in a way that results in gaps, redundancies, or unnecessary work. An objectives-driven approach to system safety affords more flexibility to determine, on a system-specific basis, the means by which adequate safety is achieved and verified. Such flexibility and efficiency is becoming increasingly important in the face of evolving engineering modalities and acquisition models, where, for example, NASA will increasingly rely on commercial providers for transportation services to low-earth orbit. A key element of this objectives-driven approach is the use of the risk-informed safety case (RISC): a structured argument, supported by a body of evidence, that provides a compelling, comprehensible and valid case that a system is or will be adequately safe for a given application in a given environment. The RISC addresses each of the objectives defined for the system, providing a rational basis for making informed risk acceptance decisions at relevant decision points in the system life cycle