Study and prototype of data system interactions for the Earth Observing System Data and Information System

A crucial part of the Earth Observing System (EOS) is its Data and Information System (EOSDIS). The success of EOS depends not only on its instruments and science studies, but also on its ability to help scientists integrate data sets of geophysical and biological measurements taken by various instruments and investigators. NASA contractors have completed Phase B studies of EOSDIS, in particular its architecture, functionality, and user interfacing. At this point in time, it may seem impossible to exercise the EOSDIS or any of its components since they do not exist; i.e., if the EOSDIS is accepted as a totally new system, distinct from any existing DIS. However, if EOSDIS is seen as evolving from existing data systems, then some limited prototyping studies can be conducted by using currently functioning systems. In support of both the EOSDIS Science Advisory Panel and the EOSDIS Project, a prototyping activity was carried out by a cross section of interdisciplinary scientists. That prototyping activity is summarized and some conclusions are drawn that can be used by NASA-Goddard to evaluate and modify the specifications soon to be released in an RFP to build EOSDIS

Gene expression patterns during adaptation of a helminth parasite to different environmental niches

Using a genomic microarray, gene expression at three different developmental stages of the schistosome parasite were analyzed, resulting in the identification of 1154 developmentally enriched transcripts

Infection Control in design and construction work

Objective: To clarify how infection control requirements are represented, communicated, and understood in work interactions through the medical facility construction project life cycle. To assist project participants with effective infection control management by highlighting the nature of such requirements and presenting recommendations to aid practice. Background: A 4-year study regarding client requirement representation and use on National Health Service construction projects in the United Kingdom provided empirical evidence of infection control requirement communication and understanding through design and construction work interactions. Methods: An analysis of construction project resources (e.g., infection control regulations and room data sheets) was combined with semi-structured interviews with hospital client employees and design and construction professionals to provide valuable insights into the management of infection control issues. Results: Infection control requirements are representationally indistinct but also omnipresent through all phases of the construction project life cycle: Failure to recognize their nature, relevance, and significance can result in delays, stoppages, and redesign work. Construction project resources (e.g., regulatory guidance and room data sheets) can mask or obscure the meaning of infection control issues. Conclusions: A preemptive identification of issues combined with knowledge sharing activities among project stakeholders can enable infection control requirements to be properly understood and addressed. Such initiatives should also reference existing infection control regulatory guidance and advice

Design management: changing roles of the professions

This paper sets out to explore how recent changes in procurement in construction have affected the roles that professions play in the design process. It discusses how professions that traditionally took the role of design manager now find themselves participating within previously unforeseen contexts, working in multidisciplinary teams led by contractors and with changed responsibilities at the design stage. Supply chain members who were not previously involved during the early project phases are being engaged at the earliest phases of the project life cycle and even taking leadership roles while designers sometimes work as supply chain partners. A study of design in construction and other sectors shows that in dealing with design management issues it is critical to deepen appreciation for the unique characteristics of design and the design process. The paper argues that contractors and designers taking on design management roles in a dynamic industry seeking to explore best practice and innovative approaches to procurement and in the delivery of projects need to acquire new skills, management education and develop the necessary qualities

Healthcare designers’ use of prescriptive and performance-based approaches

In the UK, healthcare built environment design is guided by a series of long-established design standards and guidance issued by the Department of Health. More recently, healthcare design focus has broadened to encompass new approaches, supported by large bodies of credible research evidence. It is therefore timely to rethink how healthcare design standards and guidance should be best expressed to suit ‘designerly ways’ of using evidence, to improve their use and effectiveness in practice. This research explored how designers use performance and prescriptive approaches during the healthcare design process. Three in-depth healthcare built environment case studies were used to explore how designers employed such approaches during the design of selected exemplar design elements. Results show that design elements in the pre and conceptual design phases significantly employed performance-based approaches, and due to project-unique circumstances, prescriptive solutions were often significantly modified based on performance criteria. For design elements in the detailed and technical design phases, there was a significant use of solutions based on prescriptive approaches, whilst performance-based criteria were used to evaluate design solutions. This research proposes a performance-based, specification-driven healthcare design with supplementary prescriptive specifications provided for optimum healthcare environment design

Louis I. Kahn and Richard Kelly: collaborative design in creation of the luminous environment

As one of the most prominent architects of the twentieth century, Louis I. Kahn aspired to use natural light to shape his architecture. The lighting designer Richard Kelly, one of his close collaborators, had significant influence on modern architectural lighting design in the twentieth century. Kahn and Kelly designed the luminous environments in three art-gallery and museum buildings, The Yale University Art Gallery, the Kimbell Art Museum and the Yale Center for British Art. Collaboration between the architect and the lighting designer resulted in well-resolved lighting solutions. This research investigated the collaboration between Louis I. Kahn and Richard Kelly from both theoretical and pragmatic perspectives. In terms of the theoretical perspective, a detailed overview of their collaborative work is provided through literature review. In terms of the pragmatic perspective, the background of their cooperation and the technical details are presented. In addition, daylighting performance analysis of these three buildings through digital modelling was undertaken. This study found that the lighting design solutions produced together by Louis I. Kahn and Richard Kelly, especially the way of using daylight, have had significant impact on architectural space and the luminous environment. More importantly, this kind of collaborative working method could provide a useful reference and guidance for contemporary architecture and lighting design

The role of contracting strategies in social value implementation

There has been an increasing demand for social value (SV) implementation to assume a cardinal position in the infrastructure delivery efforts of infrastructure client organisations (ICOs). However, whereas successful implementation has been recorded in some projects, monumental failures have also been recorded in others. This variance in implementation performance is a cause for concern. The mode of governance applied in an infrastructure delivery endeavour has been identified as capable of influencing the implementation of SV. This observation makes imperative an investigation into the role of contracting strategies – an integral part of governance modes – adopted by ICOs on SV implementation performance. This is the aim of this study. Using a case study approach, three infrastructure projects which used different contracting strategies were selected from two different countries, the UK and Nigeria. Semistructured interviews were conducted with ICO representatives on these projects and subsequently analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings confirmed that the kind of contract adopted by ICOs influenced their ability to drive the successful implementation of desirable SV objectives through their supply chain. It is therefore recommended that ICOs ensure that the selected contracting strategies are capable of ensuring successful implementation of the desired objectives

Airborne lidar observations of wind, water vapor, and aerosol profiles during the NASA Aeolus calibration and validation (Cal/Val) test flight campaign

Lidars are uniquely capable of collecting high-precision and high spatiotemporal resolution observations that have been used for atmospheric process studies from the ground, aircraft, and space for many years. The Aeolus mission, the first space-borne Doppler wind lidar, was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and launched in August 2018. Its novel Atmospheric LAser Doppler INstrument (ALADIN) observes profiles of the component of the wind vector and aerosol/cloud optical properties along the instrument's line-of-sight (LOS) direction on a global scale. A total of two airborne lidar systems have been developed at NASA Langley Research Center in recent years that collect measurements in support of several NASA Earth Science Division focus areas. The coherent Doppler Aerosol WiNd (DAWN) lidar measures vertical profiles of LOS velocity along selected azimuth angles that are combined to derive profiles of horizontal wind speed and direction. The High Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO) measures high resolution profiles of atmospheric water vapor (WV) and aerosol and cloud optical properties. Because there are limitations in terms of spatial and vertical detail and measurement precision that can be accomplished from space, airborne remote sensing observations like those from DAWN and HALO are required to fill these observational gaps and to calibrate and validate space-borne measurements. Over a 2-week period in April 2019, during their Aeolus Cal/Val Test Flight campaign, NASA conducted five research flights over the eastern Pacific Ocean with the DC-8 aircraft. The purpose was to demonstrate the following: (1) DAWN and HALO measurement capabilities across a range of atmospheric conditions, (2) Aeolus Cal/Val flight strategies and comparisons of DAWN and HALO measurements with Aeolus, to gain an initial perspective of Aeolus performance, and (3) ways in which atmospheric dynamic processes can be resolved and better understood through simultaneous observations of wind, WV, and aerosol profile observations, coupled with numerical model and other remote sensing observations. This paper provides a brief description of the DAWN and HALO instruments, discusses the synergistic observations collected across a wide range of atmospheric conditions sampled during the DC-8 flights, and gives a brief summary of the validation of DAWN, HALO, and Aeolus observations and comparisons.</p