NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 9: Information intermediaries and the transfer of aerospace Scientific and Technical Information (STI): A report from the field

From the NASA/DOD survey data, there can be no way of inferring what strategy for knowledge transfer is best; indeed, given the fact that the respondents were all presumably well qualified professionals, the data tend to call into serious question the idea that any one model might meet the needs of more than a distinct minority of possible users. The evidence to date appears to reinforce the concept that different information environments take many different shapes, and interact with each other and with formal data transmission sources in many different and equally valuable ways. Any overall strategy for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of scientific and technical information sharing must take this divergence into account, and work toward the creation of systems that reinforce true interactive knowledge utilization rather than simply disseminating data

Color Universal Design for Educators: An Instructional Design Research Project

Is it imperative that inclusive learning materials are created to ensure all students, whether in-person or in online learning environments, have access to a quality education. Creating visually inclusive learning materials for students with disabilities, in particular, students with colorblindness, will help with academic success. However, many educators are unaware of their students with colorblindness and few know how to create inclusive visual materials for them. Color Universal Design, a relatively new approach under the conceptual umbrella of Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning, can help. Therefore, the purpose of this research study was to create and evaluate the effectiveness of an online instructional module on Color Universal Design for post-secondary educators. This module aimed to increase awareness of students with colorblindness and teach Color Universal Design techniques. Disseminated to a sample population of post-secondary educators of the University of Hawai’i system, pre- and post-assessments were used to evaluate participants’ application mastery of the module’s content and to measure the overall instructional effectiveness. Color Universal Design can assist educators with steps to improve their visual materials, decrease learning barriers for their students with colorblindness, and enhance the experience of all their students

Oviposition Site Selection By Mosquitoes: Predator-Released Kairomones And Responses To Different Taxa

Oviposition site selection is a critical reproductive behavior for egg-laying organisms that offer little to no parental care. Determining the mechanisms females use to assess sites is critical to understanding life history traits, community structure, and species interactions. Mosquitoes are excellent model organisms for studying oviposition site selection for numerous reasons: 1) a poor decision can lead to zero reproductive success, 2) females actively assess and choose among habitat patches when locating an oviposition site, 3) larvae remain in the habitat where they hatch until they metamorphose, and 4) they lay conspicuous egg rafts that allow direct assessment of oviposition. Certain mosquito species actively detect and avoid habitats with predaceous backswimmers (Heteroptera: Notonectidae), and certain species of fish, including Gambusia affinis. For my thesis I focused on mosquitoes of the genus Culex, and how they responded solely to the presence of kairomones (chemicals emitted by an organism and detected by an individual of another species; where only the receiver benefits from the cue) released by Gambusia affinis (Western mosquitofish), Lepomis cyanellus (green sunfish), and Procambarus hayi (straightedge crayfish) when locating oviposition sites. Three paired experiments (Control vs. Predator-conditioned water) were conducted, one for each predator species. A fourth experiment was conducted to determine where Culex would oviposit in the presence of positive, negative, and neutral stimuli. Oviposition choice was quantified by collecting all egg rafts laid in experimental pools. Egg rafts were hatched, raised, and identified to species. In experiment one, Culex restuans used kairomones to detect and avoid ovipositing in the presence of G. affinis. In experiment two, L. cyanellus kairomones did not deter Culex species. In experiment three, mosquitoes were attracted to pools with crayfish-conditioned water over Controls. In experiment four, presence of G. affinis within a pair reduced the number of egg rafts found in Control and Crayfish pools. When not paired with G. affinis, Control and Crayfish pools received significantly more egg rafts than G. affinis pools. Overall, kairomones alone can drive oviposition site choice in Culex restuans, and Culex perceive quality habitats as low quality when in close proximity to G. affinis pools

Progress with Ball and Roller Bearings

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The Political Coorientation of Young Adults in Voluntary Associations and its Relation with Conversation

We employ social network data from 25 randomly sampled voluntary associations to understand the factors associated with accurate perceptions of the political preferences of fellow group members. We build upon research in communication, social psychology, and social networks to identify relevant predictors. We analyze relationships at the dyadic level, but we also consider the aggregated accuracy of perceptions by ego of alters (“perceptiveness”) and the aggregated accuracy of perception by alters of ego (“explicitness”) regarding political candidate preferences using a multilevel modeling approach. We find relatively low levels of accuracy on average, and in general the variables that predict perceptiveness are not the same variables that predict explicitness. However, there is a consistent and strong link between the frequency of communication (viewed as an indicator of network tie strength) and accuracy both at the dyadic and aggregate levels. However, this relationship is highly contingent on the homophily of political preferences within the group

Assurance of COTS Boards for Space Flight

Space Flight hardware and software designers are increasingly turning to Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) products in hopes of meeting the demands imposed on them by projects with short development cycle times. The Technology Validation Assurance (TVA) team at NASA GSFC has embarked on applying a method for inserting COTS hardware into the Spartan 251 spacecraft. This method includes Procurement, Characterization, Ruggedization/Remediation and Verification Testing process steps which are intended to increase the user's confidence in the hardware's ability to function in the intended application for the required duration. As this method is refined with use, it has the potential for becoming a benchmark for industry-wide use of COTS in high reliability systems