71,101 research outputs found
Astronaut hazard during free-flight polar EVA
Extravehicular Activity (EVA) during Shuttle flights planned for the late 1980's includes several factors which together may constitute an astronaut hazard. Free-flight EVA is planned whereas prior United States Earth orbit EVA has used umbilical tethers carrying communications, coolant, and oxygen. EVA associated with missions like LANDSAT Retrieval will be in orbits through the auroral oval where charging of spacecraft may occur. The astronaut performing free flight EVA constitutes an independent spacecraft. The astronaut and the Shuttle make up a system of electrically isolated spacecraft with a wide disparity in size. Unique situations, such as the astronaut being in the wake of the Shuttle while traversing an auroral disturbance, could result in significant astronaut and Shuttle charging. Charging and subsequent arc discharge are important because they have been associated with operating upsets and even satellite failure at geosynchronous orbit. Spacecraft charging theory and experiments are examined to evaluate charging for Shuttle size spacecraft in the polar ionosphere
BowScribe: Supporting the violinist's performance model
Musicians often learn about their vision of a
piece through practicing it and listening to recordings. However,
this does not always free the player to develop his or her own
interpretation of the piece, especially when technique is lacking. We
have developed software, the BowScribe markup language, that supports
a violinist in creating a ``performance model'' of a piece currently
beyond his or her playing skills, by allowing the player fine control
over tempo, volume, and articulation, including playing of chords, at
a level of expressiveness and flexibility that is significantly beyond
the MIDI playback modes of popular music notation software. BowScribe
has been used by the first author (who was trained as a prfessional
violinist) to create a model of the entire Bach Chaconne (edited by
Glamian), a long and demanding piece of music for solo violin that has
many phrases that span groups of chords as well as melodic passages.
The markup language specified chords to be rolled in two classic ways,
as well as a wide variety of other strokes, including greater volume
for individual notes in long slurs and small but essential variations
in tempo
The anatomy of the Gunn laser
A monopolar GaAs FabryâPĂ©rot cavity laser based on the Gunn effect is studied both experimentally and theoretically. The light emission occurs via the band-to-band recombination of impact-ionized excess carriers in the propagating space-charge (Gunn) domains. Electroluminescence spectrum from the cleaved end-facet emission of devices with Ga1âxAlxAsâ(x = 0.32) waveguides shows clearly a preferential mode at a wavelength around 840 nm at T = 95âK. The threshold laser gain is assessed by using an impact ionization coefficient resulting from excess carriers inside the high-field domain
Operation of the University of Hawaii 2.2M telescope on Mauna Kea
NASA's planetary astronomy program provides part of the funding for the 2.2 meter telescope. The parameters for time on the telescope are laid out. A major instrumental highlight has been the commissioning of a 256 x 256 near infrared camera which uses a Rockwell NICMOS-3 array. At the f/10 focus, image scales of 0.37 and 0.75 arcsec/pixel are available. A new, high quantum efficiency Tektronix 1024 x 1024 CCD saw first light on the telescope in 1991, and was available regularly from April 1991. Data from both of these detectors are transmitted directly to the Sun workstation for immediate analysis by the observers. The autoguider software was enhanced to permit guided tracking on objects have nonsideral motions (i.e., solar system objects)
Pyrolysis of latex gloves in the presence of y-zeolite
In this study we have investigated the possibility of processing waste rubber gloves using
pyrolysis. Y-zeolite catalyst was employed to upgrade the pyrolysis products to give higher
yields of valuable aromatic compounds such as toluene and xylenes. The composition of the
pyrolysis products was determined using GC-MS, GC-FID, GC-TCD, and FT-IR. It was
found that when rubber gloves were pyrolysed in the absence of a catalyst, the pyrolysis oil
consisted mainly of limonene and oligomers of polyisoprene. When Y-zeolite was added to
the reaction system, the yields of toluene, xylene, methylbenzenes, ethylbenzenes, and
naphthalenes increased dramatically. The Y-zeolite also catalysed the decomposition of
limonene, which was absent from the catalytic pyrolysis products. The presence of the Yzeolite
catalyst also increased the yield of hydrocarbon gases. The tests were carried out at
both 380°C and 480°C and it was found that the higher reaction temperature led to increased
yields of all the major compounds, both in the presence and absence of the Y-zeolite catalyst
Persuading developers to buy into software process improvement: a local opinion and empirical evidence
This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.---- Copyright IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.In order to investigate practitionersâ opinions of software process and software process improvement, we have collected a large volume of qualitative evidence from 13 companies. At the same time, other researchers have reported investigations of practitioners, and we are interested in how their reports may relate to our evidence. Thus, other research publications can also be treated as a form of qualitative data. In this paper, we review advice on a method, content analysis, that is used to analyse qualitative data. We use content analysis to describe and analyse discussions on software process and software process improvement. We report preliminary findings from an analysis of both the focus group evidence and four publications
Persuading developers to buy into software process improvement: an exploratory analysis
In order to investigate practitioners' opinions of software process and software process improvement, we have collected information from 13 companies, in a variety of ways i.e. the use of Repertory Grid Technique, survey and focus group discussions. Both the Repertory Grid Technique and the focus group discussions (43 discussions occurred, in total) produced a large volume of qualitative data. At the same time, other researchers have reported--investigations of practitioners, and we are interested in how their reports may relate to our own. Thus, other research publications can also be treated as a form of qualitative data. In this paper, we review advice on a method, content analysis, that is used to analyse qualitative data. Content analysis is a method for identifying and classifying words and phrases used in--ordinary language. We use content analysis to describe and analyse discussions on software--process and software process improvement. We report preliminary findings from an analysis--of both the focus group evidence and some publications. Our main finding is that there is an--apparent contradiction between developers saying that they want evidence for software process improvement, and what developers will accept as evidence. This presents a serious problem for research: even if researchers could demonstrate a strong, reliable relationship between software process improvement and improved organisational performance, there would still be the problem of convincing practitioners that the evidence applies to their particular situation
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