943 research outputs found
A method for economic evaluation of redundancy levels for aerospace systems
Principle comprises primary cost impacts, such as operational delays, reflown missions due to aborts, procurement of equipment, and vehicle expansion to accommodate additional equipment. Economics are estimated by criterion which is relatively insensitive to impertinent cost factors
The construction, utilization, and evaluation of a series of exercises designed to improve the oral language of second grade children
Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit
Program management aid for redundancy selection and operational guidelines
Although this criterion was developed specifically for use on the shuttle program, it has application to many other multi-missions programs (i.e. aircraft or mechanisms). The methodology employed is directly applicable even if the tools (nomographs and equations) are for mission peculiar cases. The redundancy selection criterion was developed to insure that both the design and operational cost impacts (life cycle costs) were considered in the selection of the quantity of operational redundancy. These tools were developed as aids in expediting the decision process and not intended as the automatic decision maker. This approach to redundancy selection is unique in that it enables a pseudo systems analysis to be performed on an equipment basis without waiting for all designs to be hardened
Nonlinear Dynamics of Capacitive Charging and Desalination by Porous Electrodes
The rapid and efficient exchange of ions between porous electrodes and
aqueous solutions is important in many applications, such as electrical energy
storage by super-capacitors, water desalination and purification by capacitive
deionization (or desalination), and capacitive extraction of renewable energy
from a salinity difference. Here, we present a unified mean-field theory for
capacitive charging and desalination by ideally polarizable porous electrodes
(without Faradaic reactions or specific adsorption of ions) in the limit of
thin double layers (compared to typical pore dimensions). We illustrate the
theory in the case of a dilute, symmetric, binary electrolyte using the
Gouy-Chapman-Stern (GCS) model of the double layer, for which simple formulae
are available for salt adsorption and capacitive charging of the diffuse part
of the double layer. We solve the full GCS mean-field theory numerically for
realistic parameters in capacitive deionization, and we derive reduced models
for two limiting regimes with different time scales: (i) In the
"super-capacitor regime" of small voltages and/or early times where the porous
electrode acts like a transmission line, governed by a linear diffusion
equation for the electrostatic potential, scaled to the RC time of a single
pore. (ii) In the "desalination regime" of large voltages and long times, the
porous electrode slowly adsorbs neutral salt, governed by coupled, nonlinear
diffusion equations for the pore-averaged potential and salt concentration
The interplay between chromosome stability and cell cycle control explored through gene–gene interaction and computational simulation
Chromosome stability models are usually qualitative models derived from molecular-genetic mechanisms for DNA repair, DNA synthesis, and cell division. While qualitative models are informative, they are also challenging to reformulate as precise quantitative models. In this report we explore how (A) laboratory experiments, (B) quantitative simulation, and (C) seriation algorithms can inform models of chromosome stability. Laboratory experiments were used to identify 19 genes that when over-expressed cause chromosome instability in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To better understand the molecular mechanisms by which these genes act, we explored their genetic interactions with 18 deletion mutations known to cause chromosome instability. Quantitative simulations based on a mathematical model of the cell cycle were used to predict the consequences of several genetic interactions. These simulations lead us to suspect that the chromosome instability genes cause cell-cycle perturbations. Cellcycle involvement was confirmed using a seriation algorithm, which was used to analyze the genetic interaction matrix to reveal an underlying cyclical pattern. The seriation algorithm searched over 1014 possible arrangements of rows and columns to find one optimal arrangement, which correctly reflects events during cell cycle phases. To conclude, we illustrate how the molecular mechanisms behind these cell cycle events are consistent with established molecular interaction maps
NGO Legitimacy: Four Models
The aim of this paper is to examine NGOs’ legitimacy in the context of global politics. In order to yield a better understanding of NGOs’ legitimacy at the international level it is important to examine how their legitimacy claims are evaluated. This paper proposes dividing the literature into four models based on the theoretical and analytical approaches to their legitimacy claims: the market model, social change model, new institutionalism model and the critical model. The legitimacy criteria generated by the models are significantly different in their analytical scope of how one is to assess the role of NGOs operating as political actors contributing to democracy. The paper argues that the models present incomplete, and sometimes conflicting, views of NGOs’ legitimacy and that this poses a legitimacy dilemma for those assessing the political agency of NGOs in world politics. The paper concludes that only by approaching their legitimacy holistically can the democratic role of NGOs be explored and analysed in the context of world politics
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