A 10,000-hr life test of an engineering model resistojet

One of the major issues associated with using resistojet thrusters on Space Station Freedom is the long life required. An engineering model resistojet was life-tested to determine if it was capable of meeting that requirement. This thruster, which was designed for 10,000 hr of operation at 2552.4 F (1400 C) or less under cyclical thermal conditions, successfully operated for 10,036 hr at 1836 F (1002 C) while undergoing 141 thermal cycles

Protein fiber linear dichroism for structure determination and kinetics in a low-volume, low-wavelength couette flow cell

High-resolution structure determination of soluble globular proteins relies heavily on x-ray crystallography techniques. Such an approach is often ineffective for investigations into the structure of fibrous proteins as these proteins generally do not crystallize. Thus investigations into fibrous protein structure have relied on less direct methods such as x-ray fiber diffraction and circular dichroism. Ultraviolet linear dichroism has the potential to provide additional information on the structure of such biomolecular systems. However, existing systems are not optimized for the requirements of fibrous proteins. We have designed and built a low-volume (200 μL), low-wavelength (down to 180 nm), low-pathlength (100 μm), high-alignment flow-alignment system (couette) to perform ultraviolet linear dichroism studies on the fibers formed by a range of biomolecules. The apparatus has been tested using a number of proteins for which longer wavelength linear dichroism spectra had already been measured. The new couette cell has also been used to obtain data on two medically important protein fibers, the all-β-sheet amyloid fibers of the Alzheimer's derived protein Aβ and the long-chain assemblies of α1-antitrypsin polymers

Melody based tune retrieval over the World Wide Web

In this paper we describe the steps taken to develop a Web-based version of an existing stand-alone, single-user digital library application for melodical searching of a collection of music. For the three key components: input, searching, and output, we assess the suitability of various Web-based strategies that deal with the now distributed software architecture and explain the decisions we made. The resulting melody indexing service, known as MELDEX, has been in operation for one year, and the feed-back we have received has been favorable

Spiritual Well-Being Scale: Mental and Physical Health Relationships (Chapter 48 of Oxford Textbook of Spirituality in Healthcare)

The existence of this handbook documents the recent increase in research on and practical attention to the role of spirituality in healthcare. One essential companion to the concept of spirituality is spiritual well-being (SWB).[1] That is, although the degree and type of spirituality per se can no doubt play an important role in how well a person faces the dilemmas related to health issues,[2,3] the degree to which a person perceives or derives a sense of wellbeing from that spirituality may be equally or more important. In this connection, SWB is an outcome indicator, or barometer, of how well a person is doing in the face of whatever the person is confronting.[4] Therefore, although SWB is not synonymous with spirituality, it is closely related to it. Similarly, SWB is not synonymous with mental health or physical health, but is likely to be related to both of them. SWB connotes one\u27s subjective perception of well-being in both the religious and/or existential dimensions in accord with whatever is implicitly or explicitly conceived of as a spiritual umbrella for the individual. The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS)* was developed in order to be a tool for self-assessment of these aspects of general perceived well-being. [ 4,5] Since its first publication in 1982, a large body of research has been done with the SWBS. In preparation for writing this chapter, a literature search documented the scale\u27s use in over 300 published articles and chapters, 190 doctoral dissertations and Masters theses, 35 posters and presentations, and 50 unpublished papers. It has also been reprinted in no less than 4 books on palliative care and counseling. [ 6-9] An exhaustive review of all of this research is beyond the scope of this chapter; the interested reader is referred to a companion review article. [ 10] Here, we focus specifically and selectively on research related to healthcare. We highlight those studies using the SWBS that are related to mental health variables or to the mental and well-being issues that are consequences or correlates of physical health conditions. In order to maximize the usefulness of this chapter, it is necessary to ( 1) summarize the intellectual roots of the concept of SWB and what the SWBS does and does not measure, (2) explain the meaning and utility of its religious well-being (RWB) and existential well-being (EWB) subscales, (3) summarize the literature with the SWBS as related to mental and physical health variables, ( 4) note any strengths and weaknesses, research directions, and applications of the SWBS, and (5) summarize implications of SWB research for healthy health care practice

High Redshift Candidates and the Nature of Small Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field

We present results on two related topics: 1. A discussion of high redshift candidates (z>4.5), and 2. A study of very small galaxies at intermediate redshifts, both sets being detected in the region of the northern Hubble Deep Field covered by deep NICMOS observations at 1.6 and 1.1 microns. The high redshift candidates are just those with redshift z>4.5 as given in the recent catalog of Thompson, Weymann and Storrie-Lombardi, while the ``small galaxy'' sample is defined to be those objects with isophotal area <= 0.2 squ. arcsec and with photometric redshifts 1<z<4.5. Of the 19 possible high redshift candidates listed in the Thompson et al. catalog, 11 have (nominal) photometric redshifts less than 5.0. Of these, however, only 4 are ``robust'' in the sense of yielding high redshifts when the fluxes are randomly perturbed with errors comparable to the estimated measuring error in each wave band. For the 8 other objects with nominal photometric redshifts greater than 5.0, one (WFPC2 4--473) has a published spectroscopic redshift. Of the remaining 7, 4 are robust in the sense indicated above. Two of these form a close pair (NIC 586 and NIC 107). The redshift of the object having formally the highest redshift, at 6.56 (NIC118 = WFPC2 4--601), is problematic, since F606W and F814W flux are clearly present, and the nature of this object poses a dilemma. (abridged)Comment: 44 pages, 12 figures, to appear in ApJ v591, July 10, 200

Critical sociology of the local public inquiry system: a study of the formulation and presentation of opposition to the North Sea oil and gas onshore development

The aim of this thesis is to achieve both a theoretical and empirical understanding of the local public inquiry system in the context of controversial North Sea oil and gas onshore developments. Part one develops a theoretical framework within which an analytical vocabulary is generated to describe the case studies in part two. it is argued that a concept of the political process which acknowledges that power and participation are inextricably bound together in public institutions is particularly appropriate for studying an institution such as a local public inquiry because it is both an instrument of government and a means of ensuring the fulfillment of 'natural justice' to individuals affected by planning and development issues. Part one develops this idea first through an historical examination of the concept of 'natural justice1 as a conflict between 'common-sense' notions of justice and 'formal' legal and administrative interpretations of what is 'fair', and then as a theoretical debate between the critical theory of Jurgen Habermas and the systems theory of Nicklas Luhmann. Part one concludes by arguing that the essence of the tension between Habermas and Luhmann articulates the tension between 'common-sense' notions of justice and 'formal legal' notions and that by using the vocabulary of 'classification and framing of knowledge' developed within educational sociology by Basil Bernstein, the Habermas-Luhmann debate can be condensed into an analytical tool enclosed within one theoretical structure. Power and participation as inter-connected forms of political engagement are expressed within the concept of the 'classification and framing of knowledge' as conflicting patterns in the relationship between knowledge and information and the institutional procedures that process that knowledge and information. Part two explicitly seeks to use the concept of the 'classification and framing' of knowledge to make visible the principles of power and social control that operate in large public inquiries. Attention is focused on local public inquiries into North Sea oil and gas onshore development; the case studies of the Cromarty Firth, Dunnet Bay and Drumbuie are described to illustrate how the 'classification and framing1 of knowledge operated in the Highlands in the 1970's. The case of Shell/Esso's petrochemical development in Fife is examined in detail to describe, first, the nature of participation and discontent within the local public inquiry system, and secondly, the relationship between the formation of local opposition in the form of an action group and the nature of the constraints imposed upon that organisation by the local public inquiry system. Part three attempts to clarify the theoretical and practical problems involved in reforming the local public inquiry system within the terms established by this thesis. The work of Jurgen Habermas is considered pivotal for developing a critical sociology of the public sphere. It is tentatively suggested that the new social movements rooted in ecology and opposition to nuclear power could be the bearers of an emerging critical theory of society and technology which might the grounding for a unified theory and practice which could lead to institutional change in society generally and in the planning sphere in particular

Private enforcement of competition law, the hidden story part II : competition litigation settlements in the UK, 2008-2012

The author has undertaken research in recent years to attempt to provide a comprehensive account, over various periods, of all competition law litigation in the UK courts, involving the application of both EU and UK competition law, and was also principal Investigator on a wider AHRC funded project on competition case-law in the courts of all EU Member States between 1999-2012. The latter revealed interesting data and trends on competition litigation in the UK and across the EU. However, it has always been recognised that competition law disputes which are made visible by the existence of court judgments, and especially by final substantive judgments on the merits, are likely to be the ‘tip of the iceberg’. This was the rationale which underlay an earlier project by the author to collect information on the number and types of competition law settlements which took place between 2000 and 2005 in the UK, and sought to identify and inform about the ‘hidden story’ of settlement practice in the UK. The limited publicly available information in the UK can be contrasted with the USA, where there is considerably more antitrust litigation, a number of aspects of the litigation process have been considered and resolved, and where there is also more evidence of antitrust litigation settlement practice and outcomes. This article provides an account of a follow-up research project on competition litigation settlements in the UK, in relation to the period 2008-2012, comprising an extensive and focused analysis of the data accumulated in relation to the reported settlements during that period