Measuring the Duration of Judicial and Administrative Proceedings: A Comment

Professors Clark and Merryman propose a useful indirect measure of the duration of litigation whose primary virtue is its ease of computation from published court data. As the authors note, such a measure of duration may be useful to persons involved in judicial administration and to attorneys formulating strategy in litigation, and the legal community should find informative their illustration of the concept with Italian court data. Concluding on a pragmatic note, Professors Clark and Merryman appear to suggest that attorneys, clients, judges, court administrators, and social scientists must ultimately assess the utility of their concept. In making this assessment, we ought to consider several aspects of their proposal, including some underlying practical and .theoretical problems. Several of the appropriate caveats apply to all statistical research, while others are directed specifically to their concept of the duration of litigation ( D )

Distributed control using linear momentum exchange devices

MSFC has successfully employed the use of the Vibrational Control of Space Structures (VCOSS) Linear Momentum Exchange Devices (LMEDs), which was an outgrowth of the Air Force Wright Aeronautical Laboratory (AFWAL) program, in a distributed control experiment. The control experiment was conducted in MSFC's Ground Facility for Large Space Structures Control Verification (GF/LSSCV). The GF/LSSCV's test article was well suited for this experiment in that the LMED could be judiciously placed on the ASTROMAST. The LMED placements were such that vibrational mode information could be extracted from the accelerometers on the LMED. The LMED accelerometer information was processed by the control algorithms so that the LMED masses could be accelerated to produce forces which would dampen the vibrational modes of interest. Experimental results are presented showing the LMED's capabilities

Case Study: Cooling Channels for Material Testing Applications Using Laser Powder Bed Fusion

Additive Manufacturing continues to gain a reputation as a key technology that will have a major impact on all aspects of mechanical engineering. The United States Air Force’s (USAF) Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), based in Dayton, Ohio, has expanded its AM-focused education and R&D capabilities with the purchase of a Laser Powder Bed Fusion system from Germany’s Concept Laser

Exploring the Taxonomical and Functional Profile of As Burgas Hot Spring Focusing On Thermostable β-galactosidases

[Abstract] In the present study we investigate the microbial community inhabiting As Burgas geothermal spring, located in Ourense (Galicia, Spain). The approximately 23 Gbp of Illumina sequences generated for each replicate revealed a complex microbial community dominated by Bacteria in which Proteobacteria and Aquificae were the two prevalent phyla. An association between the two most prevalent genera, Thermus and Hydrogenobacter, was suggested by the relationship of their metabolism. The high relative abundance of sequences involved in the Calvin–Benson cycle and the reductive TCA cycle unveils the dominance of an autotrophic population. Important pathways from the nitrogen and sulfur cycle are potentially taking place in As Burgas hot spring. In the assembled reads, two complete ORFs matching GH2 beta-galactosidases were found. To assess their functional characterization, the two ORFs were cloned and overexpressed in E. coli. The pTsbg enzyme had activity towards o-Nitrophenyl-β-D-galactopyranoside (ONPG) and p-Nitrophenyl-β-D-fucopyranoside, with high thermal stability and showing maximal activity at 85 °C and pH 6, nevertheless the enzyme failed to hydrolyze lactose. The other enzyme, Tsbg, was unable to hydrolyze even ONPG or lactose. This finding highlights the challenge of finding novel active enzymes based only on their sequence.Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2020/08Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades; RTI2018-099249-B-I00Ministerio de Educación Cultura y Deporte; FPU12/0505

The Supercooling of a Nematic Liquid Crystal

We investigate the supercooling of a nematic liquid crystal using fluctuating non-linear hydrodynamic equations. The Martin-Siggia-Rose formalism is used to calculate renormalized transport coefficients to one-loop order. Similar theories for isotropic liquids have shown substantial increases of the viscosities as the liquid is supercooled or compressed due to feedback from the density fluctuations which are freezing. We find similar results here for the longitudinal and various shear viscosities of the nematic. However, the two viscosities associated with the nematic director motion do not grow in any dramatic way; i.e.\ there is no apparent freezing of the director modes within this hydrodynamic formalism. Instead a glassy state of the nematic may arise from a ``random anisotropy" coupling of the director to the frozen density.Comment: Late

Problematizing Choice: Responsible consumers and sceptical citizens

About the book: Governance, Consumers and Citizens is the first book to bring together a study of governance with consumption, examining the changing place of the consumer as citizen in recent trends in governance, the tensions between competing ideas and practices of consumerism and the active role consumers play in the construction and practice of governance. Radically pushing forward the debate on consumers and governance, this collection outlines new conceptions and posits new policy agendas. Bringing together international experts from political science, history, geography, social policy and media studies, this study shows how governance and consumption are intertwined in crucial aspects of public policy and contemporary politics

Scaleup of mild gasification to be a process development. Quarterly report, February 1995--May 1995

The work performed during the Fourteenth quarterly reporting period (February 21 through May 20, 1995) on the research program, {open_quotes}Scale-Up of Mild Gasification to a Process Development Unit{close_quotes} is presented in this report. The overall objective of this project is to develop the IGT Mild-Gasification (MILDGAS) process for near-term commercialization. The specific objectives of the program are to: (1) design, construct, and operate a 24-tons/day adiabatic process development unit (PDU) to obtain process performance data suitable for further design scaleup; (2) obtain large batches of coal-derived co-products for industrial evaluation; (3) prepare a detailed design of a demonstration unit; and (4) develop technical and economic plans for commercialization of the MILDGAS process. The project team that is performing the initial phases of the PDU development are: Kerr-McGee Coal Corporation (K-M Coal), the Institute of Gas Technology (IGT), Bechtel Corporation (Bechtel), and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). The MILDGAS process is a continuous closed system for producing liquid and solid (char) co-products at mild operating conditions up to 50 psig and 1300{degrees}F. It is capable of processing a wide range of both eastern caking and western noncaking coals. The 1 ton/hr PDU facility that is to be constructed is comprised of a 2.5-ft ID adiabatic gasifier for the production of gases, coal liquids, and char; a three-stage condensation train to condense and store the liquid products; and coal feeding and char handling equipment. The facility will also incorporate support equipment for environmentally acceptable disposal of process waste. This quarter, the formal HAZOP review was completed and a report detailing action items for resolution by the parties responsible was prepared